Until Then
by FettsOnTop
Summary: Once upon time, a princess and a bounty hunter had a family. The long-awaited(?) sequel to Meeting Like This.
1. Chapter 1

The room was dark. Not dark the way an unlit room was, but completely black. Shysa Fett swallowed hard and closed her eyes. Maybe this was a dream and when she opened her eyes, she would be back in her bedroom.

But she wasn't.

 _Mommmmmy_. The cry rose up in her throat, but her mouth didn't open to let it out. The last thing she remembered was G'ball Square. She remembered running around the big fountain in the center, her hand outstretched to catch stray droplets of water.

Her mom was sitting on a bench. Every time she came around the fountain she waved, and her mother waved back. Something pinched her leg, and Shysa remembered falling. Could she have fallen through a hole in the pavement? Was she in a tunnel underground?

Could this be one of her father's games? The idea gave her some comfort. He'd always warned her before, but maybe this was a test. Maybe she would find a commlink any minute and hear his voice.

 _Think, Shysa_. _Stay calm. Where are you?_

She put her hand on the floor. It was bare duracrete. She felt her way forward, crawling on her hands and knees.

 _Watch for traps. Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they aren't there._

A wall. She pulled herself up to her feet. Her head swam a little, and her mouth felt sticky. She began to feel her way along the wall. There was an edge, and a smooth surface under her palms. A door? She found the control panel, but pressing on it did nothing. It was locked.

 _All doors open_. _Find something sharp and I'll show you._

Her jacket had a small wire hook at the top. She pulled at it, but it was sewn on. She took off her jacket and worried it with her teeth. Finally the thread gave, and the hook was in her mouth.

 _Don't swallow it_.

She pulled it out and felt for the panel again. Most of them popped off, if you could get something sharp behind it. The hook slipped out of her fingers and fell to the ground. She quickly dropped down to search for it.

She'd never done this in the dark before, but maybe that was the point. Maybe that was the test.

 _You can do it. Don't give up._

She found the hook and returned to the panel. It took three tries, but finally she got the hook under the edge. She braced her hands against the door and pushed on the other end of the hook with her finger. It wasn't big enough to give her much leverage. She pushed again, with both thumbs braced against the hook

 _Snap_. The panel popped open. She got her fingernails underneath of it and pried it up. There would be an emergency manual release, a circle big enough to fit her fingers in and pull. It was bright orange in most doors, but the color didn't help her now.

She carefully poked at the machinery in the panel. Those were the power lines, it should be just above that-

Got it.

The door opened, letting in a blinding shaft of light. Shysa put her arm over her eyes, squinting and blinking.

"Kriffin' hell," she heard someone say.

Three beings stood outside the door, two male humans and a male twi'lek. They all looked shocked.

"I _told_ you," one of the humans said, while the other one shook his head.

"The door was locked," the twi'lek said. "I locked it myself."

Shysa folded her arms over her chest and frowned at them. "Where's my dad?"

They all exchanged glances, then one of the humans spoke. "Your dad's busy. But he wants you to help us. With a fun game."

There was something not right about this, but she didn't know exactly what. " _Meg geroya_?"

"What?" The man looked confused.

"Speak Basic," the twi'lek said. "What's your name, little girl?"

"Shysa."

"Shysa Fett?"

If they knew her dad, they would know her last name. There was a cold knot in her stomach.

 _Fear is an emotion. Emotions cloud your judgement._

"How old are you?" The other human asked.

"Five years and ten months." She looked past them into a simple room with a few old couches and tables. "Where am I?"

"We'll explain that later," the man assured her. He turned to face the twi'lek. "Contact C'baoth. Tell him we got a real one this time."

"And we're sure of that?" The other man demanded. "We're absolutely fucking sure?"

"She opened a locked door. How much proof do you need?"

"I'm just saying, after what happened last time…"

"Jarn raises a point," the twi'lek said. "None of us want to share the same fate as Coil and his crew."

"Fine. We'll make a recording. Get her to do some tricks and send it to the old man. Tell him we want half in advance."

"Now _that's_ a plan I can get behind." The one called Jarn nodded in approval before he turned his attention back to Shysa. "Now then, girl. What else can you do?"

* * *

There was silence in the lift as it climbed upward, but it was not a restful silence. Luke Skywalker stood facing his fourteen year-old nephews in the small space, but neither one of them looked at him and neither one of them spoke.

"We don't know anything for certain yet," Luke reminded them. Kyd nodded automatically, but his brother was silent and stone-faced. "Jonah. You need to stay calm."

Jonah's dark eyes shifted toward him. "I am calm."

"Calm is not just something you project on the outside. You have to feel it inside as well. A Jedi can only draw strength from the Force when he is calm and at peace."

Jonah looked away, his jaw clenched tight.

Luke folded his arms, tucking his hands in the sleeves of his long robe. "What have you learned about fear?"

"Fear is an emotion," Kyd answered. "Emotions cloud your judgement."

"The _Jedi_ teaching on fear. Not your dad's."

"Fear leads to anger," Jonah answered, still looking away. "Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

Jonah was nearing the end of his first year at the Jedi academy. He was an exceptional student in many ways, but his weakness was always meditation.

Boba Fett trained his sons to fight, to exercise control and to always be alert, but tranquility was not a part of the Fett code. Patience, when required. Endurance, always. Never peace.

"It's kind of the same thing, isn't it?" Kyd shifted his weight and tucked his thumbs into his belt. "Either way, fear will mess you up."

"But only if you let it."

The lift chimed as they reached the penthouse level. Luke had made this journey so many times before, and every time his niece greeted him at the door. Her absence stabbed him, puncturing his own fragile calm.

Leia opened the door. She hugged Luke, and then gathered her sons into her arms as if she never intended to let them go. Luke moved past her to where his brother-in-law was standing in full armor. "Did you just get in?"

Fett's helmet tilted marginally. "About an hour ago."

It was Leia who told the story. She'd taken Shysa to the park, just as she'd done many times before. Shysa was running around the big fountain in center. She was only out of sight for a few seconds on the opposite side, but then she didn't emerge, and Leia went to investigate.

"The city authorities locked down the square and questioned everyone. The most anyone could say was that they saw a human male carrying a girl who matched my description. They thought the girl was sleeping."

"What about the security cams?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

Luke glanced at Fett, who remained silent and unnervingly still. "Have there been any demands?"

His sister shook her head again. "The authorities said kidnappers never wait long...if they're after money." Her throat convulsed, and she pressed her fingers to her temples. "We've been so careful to keep their faces off the holonet. Is it possible that someone took her because she was a little girl by herself? If we offer a reward-"

"They took her in a public place," Fett spoke up, his voice flat and emotionless. "Without being seen by any of the security cams. That took planning."

"I agree," Luke conceded. "It doesn't feel random to me. So what changed? Has there been anything about your family in the news lately? Anything at all?"

Fett neither moved nor spoke, but Luke could feel his attention, the heat of his unfriendly gaze. "What?" He said, turning sharply to face the bounty hunter. "What is it?"

Instead of answering, his helmet turned intentionally towards his sons. "No," Jonah said immediately. "We are not. Leaving." Kyd drew himself up beside his brother and folded his arms tightly over his chest in silent agreement. Luke often wondered if Fett realized just how flawless their imitation was.

"You're staying," their father replied. "I'm leaving."

Leia looked over at him sharply. "Where are you going?"

"If this was the work of professionals, they'll belong to a crew. I have an old associate on Toydaria with some connections." The bounty hunter paused, lowering his helmet towards her. "This will go public. You have to hold press releases, offer rewards. Whoever took her will be watching. And I should be seen at your side."

She frowned. "It's been years since you've had a double. Maxel and Vim are too tall, and the other two are female."

"Goran would be the right height."

"He's stockier than you, and it would take him at least three days to get here."

Luke cleared his throat. "What about Dyrk Veet?"

His sister turned to face him. "I haven't seen Dyrk in _years_. I have no idea where he is."

"I do. He's been working on Basilisk lately. He could be here by tonight."

Leia tilted her head to one side as she looked at Luke. "I didn't realize the two of you kept in touch."

Luke shrugged. Kyd raised his hand. "Wait. Who's this guy?"

"He was one of my guards when I first returned to the Senate."

"It could work," Fett agreed. "Contact him. Tell him he'll be well paid."

"You don't need to offer him money. If the _Mand'alor_ calls, he'll answer. Isn't that how it works?"

His brother-in-law regarded him silently for a moment. "I think it would be better if the request came from you."

"Fine. I'll comm him."

Leia's eyes darted between them, a shadow of concern on her face. "Are you sure-"

"He'll do it," Luke reassured her.

She turned back to her husband, lifting her chin to look into his helmet's visor. Luke could sense, with painful clarity, just how much she hated being left behind to handle the press. It was logical, it made sense, but it was still torture for her. And then there was her husband. He had to know how hard this was for her, and he couldn't even do her the courtesy of removing his helmet and looking her in the eye.

"I don't want you to go to Toydaria alone," Leia said to him, and Jonah and Kyd immediately straightened.

"We'll-" Jonah started to say, but Leia cut him off.

"I need you both here."

"Mom," Kyd tried, but her response was just as swift.

"I said _no._ "

"But-"

She spun around to face them, her hands clenching into fists. "Your little sister is _missing_. If you think either one of you are leaving my _sight_ , you are _sorely_ mistaken." She took a moment to inhale before returning to Fett, her voice cutting through the air like a knife. "You're not going alone."

"Agreed. You're coming with me."

It took Luke a second to realize that Fett was speaking to him.

"Luke," Leia echoed, equally as shocked. "Why?"

"Because he's a Jedi," the bounty hunter replied evenly. "He's got that handy kill-anyone-for-the-good-the-republic card in his pocket." His helmet tilted towards Luke. "Unless you've got something more important to do?"

Luke glared back at him. "Shysa is my family too. Nothing is more important than bringing her home."

* * *

 **Mando'a Translation**

 _Meg geroya?_ \- What game?


	2. Chapter 2

Shysa stared at the scraps of flimsy on the table in front of her. There were five men now, and they were all watching her. Not moving. Not speaking. One of them held a recorder.

She didn't like this game.

She wanted to go home.

 _Tears are a waste of energy. Think about the problem._

"C'mon," the one holding the recorder coaxed. "Just put the paper together. Like a puzzle."

"I'm hungry."

"And as soon as you're done, you can eat. Harv, get a biscuit. Look. See? This is for you."

She didn't like the way they talked to her. Like she was a pet. But she _was_ hungry.

She put her hands on the table. Her fingers were red and her palms were sweaty. She picked up a piece of flimsy, but three of the men suddenly rushed the table, looking around and underneath it. "Here!" One held up the slender rope they tied her hands with, still knotted. "What the hell?"

"She slipped out," the Twi'lek said. He sounded confused.

"Done," Shysa announced. The flimsy was back together. She held out her hand for the biscuit.

"No," the man holding the recorder groaned. "We missed it."

"She didn't untie the rope. She slipped out." The Twi'lek stared at the twisted length. "How did she do that?"

Shysa didn't understand. Wasn't she supposed to escape? That was always the point when her dad did it. He showed her how to flex her arms and where the knots were the weakest.

"Godsdamnit!" The man holding the biscuit threw it to the floor. It broke into several pieces. One rolled only a few feet from her chair. She started to get down and get it, but one of the others grabbed her arm. "Ohhh no you don't. Sit down." He swiped the flimsy off the table. "Pick up the pieces and put them back together."

He was holding on to her arm so tightly that it hurt. He wouldn't let her leave the chair. How was she supposed to pick them up?

 _Tears are a waste of energy_.

But this time she couldn't hold them back.

* * *

"You know something," Luke said. "Something you didn't want to say in front of Jonah and Kyd."

"I thought it would be obvious to you," Fett replied coldly as he dropped into the pilot's seat. Usually Luke found the bounty hunter nearly impossible to read. Most of the time he didn't even bother to try. This time, however, his anger was palpable. "You think this is about Jonah?" Luke stared at his brother-in-law before heaving a disgusted sigh. "Of course you do. You probably have enough enemies to populate a planet, but this has to be _my_ fault."

"If someone took her to get to me, they would have made it obvious. They would be cutting off her fingers and sending them back. You asked what changed. Jonah joined your academy." Fett started flipping switches on the console, warming up the ship's engines. "There are always scum in this galaxy who will pay for force-sensitives."

"But Shysa's _not_ force-sensitive."

"A kidnapper might not know that. Or he might not care. Her brother is in Jedi school. That makes her valuable."

"There's no proven genetic link."

"There's _something_. An increased susceptibility. Like an allergy. Or a birth defect."

"A birth defect?" Luke echoed, unable to let that pass with comment. " _Really_?"

"Jonah has it. Leia has it. You have it. Your father had it." Fett paused. "Do you know anything about his parents?"

"Not much. His mother's name was Shmi Skywalker. She was buried at the farm where I grew up. Why?"

"You've spent the last decade tracking down force-sensitive beings. You never bothered to find out if you have any blood relatives around?"

"Ben would have told me."

"Because he told you right away about your sister."

Fett turned his attention to the console, and Luke tilted his head to one side, focusing on his brother-in-law. "You get really tense every time his name comes up. Did you know that?"

The hum of _Slave I_ 's engines slowly became a roar as the ship lifted off of the platform. "I met Kenobi," Fett said as he put his hand on the accelerator. "Didn't like him."

* * *

"Please have the General return my message as soon as possible." Leia ended the transmission and rubbed her temples briefly. She glanced over at Jonah and Kyd, who occupied the couches in the sitting area with as much smoldering resentment as possible.

She knew they were frustrated by their inability to help, but she couldn't spare any time for their pity party. Another transmission was coming in, this time from the chancellor's office. "Dear gods," Mon Mothma said without preamble, leaning earnestly forward as she spoke. "Leia, I am so, so sorry that this happened. I want you to know that I've personally spoken with the investigator and the team assigned to the case and absolutely everything is being done. Is Boba with you?"

"He'll be back soon."

"Please tell him that if he's able to learn anything through his own contacts, he'll have whatever he needs. Troops, a squadron of x-wings, anything."

"Thank you."

"And I know this is not the time, but-" Her hands clenched together, her fingers tightly intertwined. "The nominations. We will postpone them as long as necessary."

"Please don't. There's always next term."

"But there won't be a next term for me. And you're the only one I trust to carry all on with all of the progress we've made."

"I can't-" The door chimed. She looked over at the sitting area and jerked her head. Kyd and Jonah exchanged looks and then Jonah got to his feet. "I have to go," she told Mon Mothma.

"Of course. Please comm me, night or day, if there's anything I can do."

Jonah checked the door cam. "He's Mando. I don't recognize him."

Leia rose and went to look. "I do." She hadn't seen him in nearly fifteen years, but he had the same close cut hair and beard, the same alert posture. She opened the door, and stepped back to invite him in. "Dyrk Veet. It's been a long time."

"It has." He held a fist to his breastplate. "Whatever you need, Senator. _Ni hukaat'kama_."

"Thank you. Right now I need my husband's absence to go unnoticed." She motioned to Fett's armor, stacked neatly on a chair. "This is his most current set. You'll need to wear it anytime we go out. I'll handle any interactions with the press or public. Just stay by my side and look menacing if anyone gets too close."

"Got it. What orders did he give to the clans? The lines are pretty quiet."

Leia paused to consider this. "I honestly don't know if he told them anything."

Dyrk raised his eyebrows. "With all due respect Senator, there are Mando eyes and ears all over the galaxy. It couldn't hurt to alert them."

She was inclined to agree. "I'll record a message for the clan chiefs. Maybe you can set up a contact chain?"

"I can do that. Can I draft some help?" Dyrk tilted his head in the direction of her sons.

"Yes. _Please_." Leia turned to her sons. "This is Dyrk. He's in charge of you now. Don't _do_ anything to him."

"Mom," Kyd said with exasperation as he stood. "We're too old to need a babysitter."

"I mean it," she said, including Jonah in her glare. "I have several messages to record, so I'll be in my office for a while."

Dyrk stepped forward. "We'll keep busy." He grinned at the boys, completely unfazed by their sullen expressions. "You don't need to tell me your names. I feel like I know you, the way your uncle carries on. Now. Who wants to show me the secure line options on the comm grid?"

Leia didn't turn on the lights when she entered the office. She sat down at her desk, her hands in her lap. Alone and in the dark.

Where was Shysa?

Panic clawed up through her chest. Her _baby_. Her precious daughter. How could this happen to her?

Her hands clasped tightly, her nails digging into her skin. She fought it back. She had to focus. There was no time for sorrow. No time for regret.

She turned on the desk light and started composing a message to the clan chiefs on Mandalore. They needed all the help they could get, and Mandalorians were quick to mobilize in a crisis. She went through a list of contacts, and saw one name that she should have removed long ago, but didn't.

Fenn Shysa.

Her daughter's namesake. Her dear friend and advisor. "I wish you were here," she said aloud, just in case he could hear her. Fenn would have been there in a flash. He would have raged, ranted and cried, all of the things she wanted to do and couldn't. Fenn loved Jonah and Kyd like they were his own flesh and blood, he would have loved Shysa the same way.

She could still remember vividly the day she told him, the way his eyes lit up. He stood immediately to hug her and then stopped abruptly. "That seems like good news to me. But you're not smilin'."

"Oh...it's just the...timing…"

Fenn looked even more confused. "I thought you were tryin'."

"We were. Without success." Leia dropped her eyes. "The timing would suggest that I conceived right around my birthday." She raised her eyes back to the _Mand'alor_. "You remember my birthday, don't you Fenn?"

* * *

 **Mando'a Translation**

 _Ni hukaat'kama -_ I've got your back


	3. Chapter 3

She couldn't hear them, but she was sure they were still out there. Shysa knocked on the door with her knuckles, then pounded on it with the flat of her palm. "Hey! Let me out! I'll try the game again."

There was no answer.

"It's a stupid game anyway," she muttered. She rubbed a sore spot on her hip where one of the hard leather balls had struck her. They wanted her to see the balls coming, to block them with her hands. Shysa knew she could do it. She was very fast. Her dad always said so.

But she couldn't do it with the blindfold on.

The men were getting frustrated. "Now what?" The Twi'lek had shouted at the one called Jarn. "Now _fekking_ what? She's worthless, and if her daddy ever finds out who took her, we're all _fekking_ dead."

"My dad will gut you," Shysa said. "He's done it before."

She didn't actually know if that was true. It was something she heard her brothers say. "Touch that last slice of _uj_ cake and I'll gut you." But it felt good to say. The way Jarn turned chalky white felt even better.

One of the others grabbed her arm and marched her back into the dark room. Shysa didn't want to go. "I have to go to the 'fresher."

"Later."

"I mean it. I have to _go_."

But the door shut, and she was alone in the dark again.

* * *

Fett straightened. "I found her."

Luke bolted upright in his chair and blinked in shock. "You found Shysa?"

"No. Shmi Skywalker. She and her son Anakin were listed on a cargo manifest filed by Gardulla the Hutt. No other Skywalkers listed."

" _Cargo_ manifesto?"

"They were slaves." The bounty hunter hit a few buttons and the screen flashed red.

"Access denied," a mechanical voice chirped. "Only authorized owners may view past records." Fett removed a data chip from his belt and plugged it in.

"Welcome, Boba Fett. Please take a moment to update your property records." He bypassed the screen quickly, but not before Luke saw a familiar face. He sat back and folded his arms over his chest, watching the bounty hunter silently through the holo field.

"She didn't tell you how she escaped Jabba's palace, did she?" Fett asked without looking up.

"She told me she paid you to get her out."

"And I got her out."

"Does she know she's still listed as your property?"

"It's never come up."

One of his queries returned, flashing blue on the screen. "There's no father for Anakin. That's unusual."

"It is?"

"A slave's pedigree can affect the price. If the father was a slave, it would be listed. That probably means he was a free man."

"I'm learning so much from you," Luke said with a grimace. "Why is this important again?"

"It's important if your grandfather is still alive. Maybe once upon a time a Jedi shared a night of passion with Grandma Shmi, and now he's tracking down his descendants." The bounty hunter flexed his hands briefly before returning them to the console. "The Jedi used to be fairly proficient at kidnapping force-sensitive children."

Luke rolled his eyes. "They didn't _kidnap_ them. Their parents _brought_ them to the Jedi to be trained."

"You have the ability to influence what people say. What they think. How do you know their parents acted of their own free will?"

"A Jedi would never use their powers like that."

Fett's hands moved over the controls and a projection of an old bounty listing appeared. "Tellask Vord. He was stationed in the outer rim during the Clone War and managed to escape the purge. He used to meet women in spaceport cantinas and 'convince' them to go back to his room. One night he pulled that trick on the daughter of a Zeltron arms dealer." The listing vanished. "The Zeltron wanted his head, but I still have his lightsaber. It's green. Like yours."

"He wasn't a Jedi," Luke insisted. "He fell to the dark side."

Fett snorted in response. "Just like your father?"

"I don't expect you to understand."

"Which is more likely? That Anakin Skywalker was a good man who fell to some mystical mind control, or that Anakin Skywalker was an angry and resentful man who realized that he didn't have to play by the Jedi Order's rules?"

Luke tried not to grit his teeth. "You didn't know my father. Don't pretend you did."

"You're right. I didn't really know him. But neither did you." Fett turned his attention back to the data listing for Shmi Skywalker. "Maybe your grandfather broke one too many rules and had to disappear. Taking advantage of a slave woman isn't exactly keeping with the Jedi code."

"Oh, so now my grandfather's a kidnapper _and_ a rapist?"

"Slaves don't have the same options as free people. Can a slave say no?"

Luke sat up and glared at the other man. "I don't know. Could _my sister?_ "

A tense silence held in the cockpit for a few seconds. Luke could feel his pulse throbbing in his neck and he took a deep breath. Damn it. He was usually better at resisting Fett's barbs. It was the stress. The awfulness of this situation. In the midst of his fear for his niece, anger felt like refuge. Maybe it was for Fett as well.

"I'm sorry," he said to his brother-in-law, who for all his faults, was a father living in a nightmare. Fett didn't respond immediately, but when he did, his voice carried it's usual lack of inflection.

"It's a technicality. It's only legal on Tatooine, and the way things are happening, probably won't be legal for much longer." He turned away and busied himself with the nav computer.

Luke gazed out at into the blackness of space, trying to center himself. He could feel Leia, even at this distance. He could feel the crushing, breathless fear that she carried without flinching. He could feel Jonah's frustration and despair.

He couldn't feel Shysa. She had so much of her mother in her. There had to be something he could do. Some way he could help.

"When I was searching for other Jedi," he said slowly. "There was a something I heard from two different sources. A rumor that the Emperor tried a few times to clone Jedi."

Fett looked up, but Luke couldn't tell what he was thinking. "It wouldn't surprise me."

"There was never anything on the record about it. It must not have been successful, otherwise the Emperor would have had a whole army of Force users. But I'm just wondering…"

"If they took her to clone her." Fett was very still.

"It's only a theory. But if they did, there might be a way to track that. I mean, your genetic code is pretty well known. If some of those markers showed up in a lab or a facility, someone might have noticed it."

The bounty hunter turned his seat back to the data console. "Might be worth checking out."

Luke couldn't tell if he really thought so, or if this was a gesture of reconciliation. His gaze drifted back to the projection, to the still image of Shmi Skywalker. "She's a lot younger here than any holos we had at the farm," he mused. "I didn't realize her hair was so dark."

"Reminds me of Shysa," Fett said without looking up.

"Actually, yeah, now that you say that. I always assumed that her hair came from your side."

Fett didn't respond.

* * *

He just wanted to be alone. He'd offered the bunk, or one of the hammocks the boys used, but Skywalker refused, so it was Fett who left the cockpit. He followed his usual routine on long trips. He used the 'fresher, drank some water, ate a few protein cubes. He laid down on the bunk and closed his eyes.

He didn't sleep.

Only three weeks ago he was on the way to Coruscant, and Shysa was asleep on the same bunk. Sprawled out on her stomach, mouth open, drooling. She insisted over and over again that she wasn't tired. She spent hours in the cockpit, climbing all over his lap and asking a million questions. She could already pilot _Slave I_ around Mandalore, next year he would start teaching her how to use the nav computer.

Next year.

If…

There was a dark, relentless pulse in his head, red and black behind his eyes. He opened them and stared up at the ceiling. A long, curling black hair was caught at the open edge of the bunk, and he pulled it free. He wrapped it around his index finger, careful not to break it.

It was six years ago when Leia told him she was pregnant. She was so happy. She showed him the med report with the projected due date, and because he couldn't help wondering what worked after several months of nothing working, he counted back. And then neither one of them spoke for a while. Finally Leia sat down on their bed. "It's not possible, is it?"

"It's not...probable."

"It's more than improbable. It's...the odds would have to be…" She buried her face in her hands. "What was I _thinking_?"

It was his idea. He took full responsibility for it. Leia had been preoccupied with the idea of having another child, but month and after month passed without results and it baffled and frustrated her. Jonah, after all, was conceived in a moment of improbability, and the previous year an entirely unplanned pregnancy ended in loss. The fact that they couldn't seem to get the timing right with effort seemed like a cruel joke.

The midwife in Keldabe told her not to worry. That she was older now, and should expect for these things to take longer. She relayed this to him, with a grim set to her mouth that made him want to shoot something. Or someone. He was twelve years older than his wife. It was ridiculous that anyone could make her feel old when she was just shy of thirty.

So he made a plan for her birthday. Something to make her feel young and exciting. Reasonable precautions were taken, but the evening had contained a wide variety of activities. In hindsight, reasonable precautions were insufficient.

He looked at Leia as she flopped back on the bed, her eyes fixed on the ceiling. "We have to tell Fenn. We have to get the test done. Then we can decide-"

He sat down beside her on the bed. "I don't want to know."

"What?" She lifted herself up on her elbows and stared at him in confusion.

"You can have the test done if you want. It doesn't matter to me."

She slowly sat upright, her face drained of color. "Boba. What are you saying?"

"We wanted a baby and now we're having a baby," he replied. "Why does it matter how it happened?"

For moment Leia said nothing. Then she reached over and took his hand.

"Kyd isn't from either of us," he continued, "But he's our son. It'll be the same for this one. I don't need to know."

Her fingers tightened around his. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

She nodded soberly. "I think I do. There's the medical history to consider, and...I just need to know. But I won't tell you if you don't want me to. And no matter what the results are, it's our child. Yours and mine."

And Shysa was. From the first moment Fett saw her, screaming her tiny head off, he was inexplicably proud of her defiance. She was bright and determined. Full of life. The Mandalorians had a word for it. " _Shereshoy_ ," people would say with approval. She soaked up everything around her like a sponge.

That pulse was back. Even with his eyes open he could feel it throbbing.

He gave up on rest and picked up a datapad. If he couldn't sleep, he could at least be productive. They might learn something useful on Toydaria. Or they might find nothing. He had to be prepared for all possible outcomes.


	4. Chapter 4

The sign outside the cantina advertised "Libythian Health Drinks" in Huttese. Twin holograph projectors on either side of the doors displayed tall, slender glasses of bright green sludge. Luke looked at Fett, but the bounty hunter didn't seem inclined to explain. It was early morning in the city of Toydor, outside of the normal hours of business, but when Fett tapped on the cantina door, it opened almost immediately.

Behind the bar, a dark green Toydarian was setting up a long row of the same slender glasses. "Bobaaa Fett." Her long snout twitched. "It's been a long time since we've seen you in these parts. And you brought someone with you. That's...unusual."

"Relax, Taddo. He's family. You don't see the resemblance?"

The Toydarian looked at his helmet and blinked slowly. "Oh. Ho. Ho. Ho," she replied dyrly. "You want something?"

"I'm looking for some kidnappers. Professionals. They don't mind high-profile targets. And they might be on the lookout for force-sensitive beings."

There was a flicker in her yellow eyes. "You're looking for specialists."

Fett removed a credit chit from his belt and laid it on the bar.

"I can give you a data dump of recent postings, but unless you know who the client is…"

"I'll take it."

Her wings snapped up as she fluttered over to a battered old data transmitter. "Give me a few minutes to pull it. You want a drink?"

"No."

Luke leaned over the bar. "Have you heard anything lately about black market cloners? Maybe someone studying or trying to clone Force users?"

She sniffed. "I know all kinds of beings with all kinds of skills. But what you're talking about, you'd need access to one of the old off-the-grid cloning centers. The Empire shut most of them down, and the ones that they left...well, you'd need Imperial clearance to know about them. Grand Moff level clearance."

* * *

The door opened, and the light stabbed at her eyes. "Oh _kriff_ ," the man at the door said. "What's that smell?"

Shysa squinted at him. "I _told_ you I had to use the 'fresher." She tried to sound angry. She was angry, but she was also embarrassed.

"Ugh. Get up, come on, let's go."

She scrambled to her feet, her cheeks burning. She didn't want to face the others, but she didn't want to stay in that dark room either.

"This is great," she heard one of them complain. "Just _great_."

"Her mother is filthy rich. If we demand a ransom-"

"They moment we make the slightest peep we'll have the entire military force of Republic looking for us, not to mention every bounty hunter in the galaxy."

"There are always buyers for little girls, let's just-"

"No, we're not doing that. Let's just _fekking_ leave her here, cut our losses and go."

She couldn't tell who was talking anymore. It was all a jumble, and her eyes were still adjusting to the light. Someone pushed her into the 'fresher, but she didn't know what to do. She didn't have any dry clothes. She peed and washed her hands. Her stomach hurt.

When the door opened, someone handed her a pouch of water and she drank it. No one was talking now.

A hand touched her shoulder. "C'mon. Get back in there."

Terror suddenly seized her. They were going to lock her into that dark room and leave her. No one would ever find her. "No."

"Look, I'll get you some cubes to eat. Here."

"Get her a bucket too."

"Good idea."

The hand pushed at her shoulder but Shysa fiercely shook it off. "No. I'm not going back."

Someone sighed heavily and grabbed her arm, dragging her forward. Shysa twisted away, even though the motion made her head swim. "No! NO! I WON'T." She fought blindly, not the way her father taught her.

"Godsdamnit, someone-"

"You can't handle a little girl?"

She thrashed and struggled, but the dark room was getting closer, the doorway yawning open like a monster's mouth. "NO!" She screamed over and over again. "NO! NO!"

" _Kriffing_ -" He pulled on her arm, and burst of pain shot through it. Shysa screamed again, screamed and bit the hand that tried to cover her mouth. Her feet left the ground and then suddenly everything went black.

* * *

Jonah and Kyd weren't happy to be left behind, but someone had to man the comm line. Dyrk also gave them several jobs, research on old cloning facilities that Luke had asked for before he suited up in Fett's armor and followed Leia down to the detention facility in the government quadrant.

The staff was prepared for their visit. The director met them at the door with two detention guards. "This is Senator Leia Organa and her husband, Boba Fett," she told her men. She was Pantoran, her blue skin unlined even though her shoulders were beginning to slump with age. "Take them to interview room eighteen." A pair of hard, golden eyes looked up at him. "Do we need to review the rules of conduct for engaging with a prisoner?"

Dyrk let Leia do the talking, as instructed. "No, thank you, Director Habed," she said. "We're very clear on the rules."

The guards walked them through an endless maze of corridors. Dyrk was trying to pay attention, but Fett had some kind of tech installed in his helmet that automatically pulled the building schematics and marked the closest exits. Considering that government schematics were classified, the bounty either had insanely high level clearance or he was running a shipload of illegal tech.

They stopped outside of an unmarked door. "Here we are," one of the guards said. "We'll be right out here if you need us."

"That won't be necessary," Leia spoke firmly but politely. "I'm sure you've both been on your feet for too long and would like to a break."

There was a pause, and then one guard nodded to the other. "Let's go take a break."

"Right. Good idea."

The senator waited until they disappeared around the corner before she opened the door.

"Well, this _is_ an honor." The prisoner was a slight man with long graying hair tied back, and even in chains he lounged in his chair and eyed them with indifference. "What brings the last princess of Alderaan to these humble quarters?"

"Grand Moff Leebin," she replied coolly. "I don't believe we've ever been introduced."

"It doesn't seem important, does it? I know who you are. You know who I am. I assume this is not a social call."

"No. It isn't."

Dyrk could see the man he used to be. The son of wealthy Coruscanti, educated and connected. He had seen plenty like him overseeing the labor camps when the Mandalore system was occupied.

Leia moved forward and sat in the chair opposite Leebin, her hands folded in her lap. "You were the administrator of a number of Imperial penal colonies, including several that had special facilities called 'Red Cells.'"

"Yes. Supposedly resistant to force users. I'm afraid they were largely unused, Darth Vader was never keen on taking prisoners." The former Grand Moff straightened a little. "I _was_ questioned when I was brought in, you know. _Extensively_. I'm sure you've read my file. So what it is that you want to know?"

"I want to know about the Emperor's attempts to clone force-sensitive beings."

"Oh. _That_." Leebin dropped his eyes and smiled absently at the floor for a minute or two. "And what is your plan here, Your Highness? Do you have something to offer in return for my cooperation? Or will you have your Mandalorian thug beat me if I refuse to talk?" He turned his attention to Dyrk, his eyes cold. "Occupation was too good for your shithole of a system. We should have wiped out the whole treacherous lot of you."

" _Gar aaray, shabuir_ ," Dyrk replied, forgetting that he wasn't supposed to talk. He looked guiltily at the senator, but she was smiling back at Leebin as if she found the whole thing amusing.

"You were captured in the Mandalore system, weren't you?" she said. "You were stuffed in a crate and delivered to the detention facility like a package. I heard you were covered from head to toe in your own waste when they pulled you out."

The former Moff clearly remembered. His nostrils flared. "I've been held here for sixteen years, for the crime of being a loyal citizen and dutiful officer. If you want me to tell you who was kept in my Red Cells, I expect something in return."

"Such as?"

"Such as my release."

"And if I do that," Leia said, her voice surprisingly soft, "what exactly will _I_ be getting in return?"

Leebin leaned forward. "There was a man I held for a time, in the Red Cells. A clone. A failed experiment. Quite mad. Most clones are, you know."

"What was his name?"

"Clones don't have names." He smirked, clearly feeling that he had the upper hand now. "Let's go back to my release. I would like-" He stopped suddenly, and shifted in his seat. He frowned, and raised a hand to his throat.

"What happened to him?" She posed the question in the same gentle tone, but there was something beneath it. A razor sharp edge. Dyrk could feel the hair on the back of neck stand up. Leebin seemed to be similarly affected. He clenched and unclenched his fists and cleared his throat.

"This room has very poor ventilation. We should-"

"When he left your facility, where was he taken?"

"I was doing my job," Leebin hissed, his eyes darting around the room. His hand went back to his throat, and his fingers were shaking. "Stop it. Stop this at once. Guards! Guards!"

"Tell me," Leia insisted. Her back was rigid, her shoulders tight. "Tell me _now_."

"I…" Sweat glistened on his skin and he swallowed convulsively. Dyrk didn't understand what he was seeing, but man seemed to be under tremendous stress. Perhaps he had some kind of condition? The senator seemed unconcerned by it.

As he watched, Leebin's whole body shuddered and the words that came from his mouth seemed to be forced from his body. "They...took...him...to...Wayland…"

Leia inhaled suddenly, and Leebin slumped down in his chair. His eyes were open, but unfocused, and his mouth hung slack. The director wasn't going to be happy about this. Dyrk started forward to check his pulse, but the senator stood and swept out of the room without a word, and Dyrk felt he had to follow. "Senator!"

She stopped in the corridor and leaned her back against the wall. She was breathing hard, her hand on her stomach.

"Are you all right, Senator?"

"Yes." She blinked a few times and her breathing slowed. "I'm fine, Dyrk. Thank you."

"Was that...did you kill him?"

"No! No. He'll be fine." She turned and started toward the exit. "I think. What do you know about Wayland?"

Dyrk hurried to keep with her. "Uh...it's in the Ojoster sector. Not that far from Mandalore."

"The Imperials had a storehouse there. A very classified storehouse. I don't know if this has anything to do with Shysa, but it feels important."

"I can scramble Protectors from Concord Dawn. Have them scout it out."

"Yes. Do that."

Dyrk stopped. "Senator, what was that in there? What did you do to him?"

She turned to face him. She was calm and collected, but her cheeks were flushed. "Oh. Well, you know what Luke can do. I'm not a Jedi like he is, but I have some of the same abilities."

"I've never seen Luke do anything like that."

She smiled at him. "I'm sure it looked very strange. But you did very well in there, Dyrk. I can't tell you how much I've appreciated your help over the past few days."

Dyrk's comm beeped, and he lifted his gauntlet to check it. "Jonah?"

"We got something from Clan Ordo," Jonah reported "A possible source."

"Don't say anything over the line," Dyrk instructed. The senator was already heading for the doors. "We're on our way."

* * *

 **Mandalorian Translation**

 _Gar aaray, shabuir -_ Your mistake, asshole.

(This is a very shaky translation on my part since _aaray_ means "pain/loss.")


	5. Chapter 5

"The informant is a bounty hunter who goes by the name of Habuur. She thinks she might have some intel for you, but she wants to be paid first." Dyrk leaned forward into the recorder's range, his eyes on the holograph of Fett and Luke sitting in the cockpit of _Slave I_.

"Where?" Fett asked.

"Keldooine. I'm sending you the coordinates now."

Luke looked over the bounty hunter's shoulder as the chart appeared to his left. "How does it feel to you?" He asked, glancing back at Dyrk.

"I'm no Jedi."

"But you have good instincts. You always have." There was a smile that went with his words, warm and affectionate.

Dyrk cleared his throat and straightened a little, mindful of Jonah and Kyd standing behind him, out of the recorder's range. "She has a solid rep. I think it's worth checking out."

"Where's Leia?" Fett asked, his hands moving over the control panel as he set the course.

"She's comming the planetary authorities to make sure you have priority docking. You want me to get her?"

A split second of hesitation. "No. I'll comm her when I have something." Something beeped, and Fett looked over at Luke. "We're set."

Luke nodded, and turned his attention back to the communicator. "Let us know if you find anything in the data dump from Toydaria." His voice dropped just slightly. "And thank you."

"Be careful out there, Jedi."

Dyrk ended the transmission and spun his chair around, catching Kyd in the middle of poking his index finger into his fist with his eyebrows raised while Jonah nodded emphatically. Luke had warned him they didn't miss much.

Kyd coughed unconvincingly into his fist and dropped his hands to his side while Jonah over-straightened his face and pretended to be fascinated by a wall-hanging to his right. Dyrk folded his arms over his chest. "Something you want to ask?"

They exchanged glances, the way they always did before one of them spoke for both of them. It reminded Dyrk of his twin nieces, who were close to the same age.

"So…" Jonah said carefully. "You and Uncle Luke?"

"A long time ago. You were in diapers."

"What happened?"

"He broke my heart."

"Uncle Luke?" Kyd clearly had a hard time imagining this.

"You don't seem mad about it," Jonah noted.

Dyrk shrugged. "Like I said, it was a long time ago. We're friends now."

Kyd titled his head to one side. "So you moved on. Got married?"

"No." They exchanged a look again, and Dyrk became suspicious. "Why?"

"Just asking."

"Time for you both to get back to work," Dyrk reminded them. "There are six thousand postings in that data dump. Go write some queries."

* * *

Leia's communications with the authorities in Keldooine proved very useful. They were able to dock _Slave I_ a short walk from the rendezvous point. "I guess this is it," Luke said, taking in the dust on the windows and the dark interior. "What was this place? A restaurant?"

"Looks like it." Fett stopped, standing still at the corner of the building. "She's in the kitchen. Let's go around back."

"Is she alone?"

"Looks like it." His tone turned faintly mocking. "You can't sense that?"

"I sense a lot of fear."

They circled around through an alley to the back door. The bounty hunter was clearly watching them approach, the door opened before they reached it. The kitchen was dirty and dark, and their informant wore a long robe, her face concealed by the shadow of the hood.

Luke stepped forward. "Are you Habuur?"

"I am."

"How much?" Fett asked.

"Twenty-five thousand. Non-traceable."

The bounty hunter removed a chit from his belt and showed it to her. She nodded.

"I used to do some side work for a man called Coil. He had a small-time organization, just a few hunters and assassins on the payroll. He heard of a dark Jedi who would pay primo for force-sensitive beings." A rodent rustled in the corner, and the bounty hunter froze for a second. "There was a street performer," she continued in a low voice, "no more than a boy. He was said to have powers. Coil took him to the Jedi, but the boy had no powers, only tricks. The Jedi killed him in a rage. Then he killed Coil and his crew. Only the pilot escaped."

Luke tried not to look at Fett. "The pilot was lucky."

"The pilot was smart," she replied shortly.

"The Jedi's name?" Fett's tone gave nothing away.

"Joruus C'baoth. He has a hideout on Wayland near Mount Tantiss."

Fett tossed her the chit and when she lifted her arm to catch it, her robe parted enough for Luke to see the heavy curve of her belly. Her hand withdrew quickly into her robe and she started towards the door.

"Thank you," Fett said abruptly. "Ailyn."

She turned sharply, and the light from the open door fell on her face. Luke felt a jolt of shock and recognition. She looked like Jonah. No. She looked like Boba Fett. Right down to the hardness of her eyes and the set of her jaw. She stared coldly at the bounty hunter for a second or two, but Fett said nothing further. She went through the door and vanished.

Luke felt like he'd just been punched in the stomach. "You have another daughter."

"Yes." Fett walked out the door and doubled back towards the docking bay. Luke followed after him, still trying to put the pieces together.

"Does Leia know about _that_?"

"Yes."

"She's pregnant."

"I saw."

"You don't want to go back and talk to her? Maybe find out when your _grandchild_ is due?"

Fett didn't even slow down. "I abandoned Ailyn and her mother when she was a baby. I don't have the right to know anything." _Slave I_ was in sight now, the engines already humming and the hatch open.

"But-"

"You heard what she said. We don't have any time to waste."

Luke followed him up into the cargo bay. Fett clearly didn't want to talk about it, but he didn't have to. Luke could feel, with painful clarity, just how deep this old wound was. "What happened to Shysa isn't your fault."

Fett turned, so quickly that Luke had no time to react before a gloved hand wrapped around his throat and slammed him back into the cargo bay wall. " _Of course_ it's my fault," the bounty hunter snarled, his helmet only inches from Luke's face.

Luke made no attempt to break away. He stayed silent and calm and let the ringing in his head subside.

"I've paid informants," Fett continued, a raw edge in his voice. "I've tapped communications and I've kept constant surveillance on anyone who paid any attention to my children, and for fifteen years they've been safe." His arm dropped, and he took a step back. "I relaxed," he said, the way another person might say, "I failed." He turned to go up to the cockpit, but Luke put his hand out to stop him.

"For fifteen years you've been a good father," he said, with a little rasp from his voice. "Against all odds, and in spite of every obstacle. You didn't just keep them _safe_. You raised three happy and confident children who know their father would do anything for them."

For moment, there was only silence in the cargo bay. Then the bounty hunter raised his hands to his helmet and removed it. His face was guarded. "You want to hit me? Even things up?"

Luke made his right hand into a fist and tapped Fett's arm. "There. Don't worry, I won't tell Leia you broke the 'no touching' rule."

"She told you about that."

"Your rule is no touching. Mine is no force-pushing you into oncoming traffic."

"Fair enough." Fett turned toward the cockpit. "Speaking of Leia. We finally have something to tell her."

* * *

"This doesn't make any sense," Dyrk complained from behind a jumble of holoscreens. "Jorus C'baoth was a Jedi Knight who died on some scouting expedition almost fifty years ago. His ship blew up. It doesn't seem likely that he's alive and kidnapping children from Wayland."

Leia leaned over his shoulder, her eyes darting from screen to screen. The answer was here somewhere. She could feel it. "Leebin said they took a force-sensitive clone from his facility to Wayland. Is it possible that this isn't actually the original Jorus C'baoth, but a clone of him?"

" _Haar'chak_. Maybe." Dyrk's hands were a blur as he swiped a few of the screens away. "The Protectors haven't touched down on Wayland yet, but their scanners are picking up some automated defense systems. Landing might require some...creative maneuvers." He twisted around to look at her. "You said the Republic knew about the storehouse. Why haven't they been there yet?"

"The same reason as always. No money and no time."

"Government. It's a wonder." Dyrk shook his head. "Jonah, how's the data dump search going? You find anything?"

"No Jorus C'baoth, but there's a posting by a Joruus with two 'u's. No second name. Nothing about Wayland."

"Joruus with two 'u's," Dyrk mused. "No one's that _kriffing_ unimaginative, are they?"

The communicator buzzed, and Leia saw the code for _Slave I_ come up. She tapped the receiver. "Where are you?"

"Still in Hutt space." Fett had his helmet off, she could see the tightness around his mouth. "Find anything useful?"

"Nothing that will help you get to Wayland any faster," She closed her eyes briefly and rubbed her temples. "Jonah, that posting by Joruus. Does it say who was assigned to it?"

"Yeah, it's some Outer Rim crew. Four guys."

Kyd dropped down beside him. "I can run their names."

"Is there any information about previous assignments? Maybe a crew that mysteriously vanished? What was that man's name again?" She directed this at the communicator.

"Coil," Luke replied.

"Yesss," Jonah sat up, his expression rapt. "Averus Coil signed on to this job four months ago with his crew. It doesn't say what happened to them. It just says 'unresolved.'"

"I stand corrected," Dyrk said wryly. "Someone is that _kriffing_ unimaginative. What do we have on the current crew assigned to it?"

"Kyd, run them down." Fett instructed. "Get everything you can. Every client they've ever worked for. Every ship they've ever used. I want to know them on sight."

"You got it, Dad."

Leia moved over the chart projection on the table, studying the routes to and from Wayland. "Keep the Protectors in the loop. If the kidnappers leave before we get there they might head into Mandalorian space. Anyone who spots them will have my _sincere_ gratitude." She glanced at Dyrk. "Make that clear."

"Just out of curiosity," said Luke, turning his head towards Fett, "when you see 'unresolved,' on a bounty posting, does that always mean everyone's dead?"

"About eight times out of ten."

Something was different between the two of them. Leia noticed it, but couldn't quite figure out what it was.

"We'll be making the jump soon," Fett said. "Have the Protectors forward any visuals on Wayland to me."

Leia was still staring at the chart. This was the best lead they had. If Shysa was being held on Wayland, they would take the whole planet apart if they had to.

"Leia."

She looked up at her husband, blinking out of her dark reverie.

"Are you all right?"

"I don't know," she said truthfully. "I have a bad feeling about this." The question in his eyes was one she couldn't answer. She started to tell him to go, that she was fine, but Kyd suddenly jumped up from his seat.

"I found their ship." He ran over to the chart control and began to enter new coordinates.

"It's already set to-" Leia started to say, but her son interrupted her.

"They're not on Wayland." A new system popped up on the chart. "Their ship is docked at Iziz city spaceport on Onderon."

Jonah joined his brother. "That's nowhere near Wayland. What does that mean?"

"I don't know. The ship's been docked there for days." He handed Leia a datapad. "Look at the incoming report. They came from Coruscant."

Leia scanned it quickly, then backed up the viewer, bringing more of the galaxy into the chart projection. "They docked at Iziz about twenty-one hours after Shysa was taken. It's a twenty hour flight from Coruscant to Onderon. The ship hasn't left the docking bay since."

"They could have changed ships," Dyrk pointed out. "We need the feeds from the docking bay."

"I'm on it," Kyd said, but Leia held up her hand.

"Don't bother. I'll get the chancellor to make a security request." She rotated the chart projection and looked at the coordinates. "Dyrk and I could go check it out. Twenty hours isn't that long, and that's with a regulation hyperdrive." She looked over her shoulder at Dyrk. "Somehow I doubt you have a regulation hyperdrive."

He grinned at her in response.

Fett was looking at his own chart. "I can get there faster. It's a standard twelve on the cut route through the Mytaranor system. Or I can continue to Wayland. But I can't do both."

Leia braced her hands on the edge of the table and watched the slow rotation of Onderon surrounded by its four moons. "It's Onderon," she said, the words spilling out. She looked up at her brother. "You have to go to Onderon."

Luke turned immediately to Fett. "We have to go to Onderon."

His gaze moved quickly from Leia to Luke and then back to Leia. "You're absolutely fucking sure about this?"

"Boba." She said slowly and quietly. "You've always trusted me. I need you to trust me now."


	6. Chapter 6

If she laid very still on the floor, she could hear little sounds. Muffled voices. The scraping of boots against the floor. That's how Shysa knew they were still out there. They hadn't left yet.

She was so thirsty. Her mouth felt dry and rough, and her tongue felt funny. Maybe if she pounded on the door, they would bring her water, but it was so hard to move. Her right arm was still swollen and throbbing, and it didn't bend. Everytime she tried her head swirled and bright spots danced in front of her eyes.

Maybe if she was very good and very quiet, they would remember to bring her water and food. Her eyes shut. They were arguing again. She couldn't make out their words, but she could hear the pitch in their voices.

There was a sharp sound, like a glass breaking. Were they throwing things at each other now? There was more shouting, and heavy footsteps. Then, silence.

Absolute silence.

Shysa opened her eyes and raised her head off the duracrete floor, her ears straining. She thought she heard footsteps again. Maybe. Or maybe she was just confused again.

The night before (at least she thought it was the night before) she felt her mother's hand, stroking her hair back from her face. Like a dream, only Shysa was sure she was awake.

The door opened, so unexpectedly that she didn't have time to cover her eyes. She whimpered and squeezed them shut, the light imprinting a silhouette in her eyelids.

Was she confused again?

She forced her eyes open, and there was her dad. He was wearing his old armor, but she knew it was him. A second later she was cradled in his arms, and she wanted to hold on but pain shot through her injured arm.

"Shysa." His voice sounded rough beneath his helmet, like he'd been running. He adjusted his grip. "Are you hurt?"

"My arm," she said, trying not to cry. "They hurt my arm."

He carried her out into the main room. She saw her Uncle Luke, standing guard with his lightsaber in a room full of sleeping men. The men were sprawled out on the floor and over chairs as if they'd dropped on the spot. There was smell in the air, sharp and acrid. A concussion grenade. She knew that. She might not be able to stop a leather ball blindfolded, but she knew that.

Her dad stopped in the middle of the room, his voice soft in her ear. "Which one of them hurt your arm?"

She pointed.

"Good girl."

She laid her head down on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

* * *

The Caridian officials were clearly annoyed. Not only had the ship arrived with the kind of priority clearance usually reserved for the Chancellor herself, but the passenger defied protocol by disembarking and pacing the length of the landing platform.

Leia couldn't help it. She couldn't stay still. She kept replaying the message over and over again. Her husband, reporting his ETA from the cockpit of _Slave I_. Shysa, strapped into the pilot's seat with him and sound asleep. Leia kept turning the image, trying to see more of her daughter's face where it was smushed against Fett's breastplate.

She was seen by a med droid at Iziz city. She was bruised and dehydrated and had a dislocated elbow, but nothing that prevented her from going home. Leia had commandeered the first available ship to Carida, unable to wait for Fett's return to Coruscant. This was better anyway. No press to worry about. No officials or investigators. Luke had stayed behind to deal with the Onderonian authorities.

Leia turned the image again, and for a moment it hurt to breathe. Father and daughter. A little thing, but an important thing. A precious thing.

She couldn't help but think about six years ago, when she went to Fenn Shysa and told him she was pregnant. "The timing would suggest that I conceived right around my birthday," she told him, dreading every word. "You remember my birthday, don't you Fenn?"

"Vividly." He grinned at her, and then it hit him. "Wait. What exactly are ya sayin' here? 'Cause to the best of my recollection, you and I never did anything that could have resulted in _that_."

"There's a possibility...a very, very slim possibility, that you could have accidentally impregnated me by…" she looked down at her hands, heat spreading into her cheeks. "...transfer."

" _Osik_." Fenn frowned in thought. "You mean when you-"

"Yes."

"And then we-"

"Yes."

"And then I-"

"Fenn. I was there." She smoothed out a few non-existent wrinkles in her skirt before she looked up at him. "I want to have the test done. Just to be sure."

The _Mand'alor_ shook his head and sat on the edge of the table that served as his desk when absolutely necessary. "You know I'm happy to give you or your husband a DNA sample at any time, but-"

"This isn't a joke." She folded her arms tightly over her chest and glared at him. "We've already talked it over, and regardless of who the biological father is, we want the baby. But if there's some medical issue...I know you lost a sister to a genetic heart condition. I just don't want to be caught by surprise."

"Ah." Fenn's expression sobered. "Can I tell ya something? Part of me wishes it was mine." His mouth crooked up. "A little bit of me, going on in the galaxy after I'm gone. But I'm just gonna save us all some time and expense here. I decided a long time ago that havin' a kid wasn't in the cards for me, so I had that option taken off the the table."

It took a few seconds for his words to sink in. "You're sterile?"

"As a stone. I would have mentioned it that night, but Boba was pretty clear that me bein' inside you wasn't going to happen, and considering everything else he agreed to…" Fenn shrugged. "It didn't seem important."

Her shoulders slumped in relief. "You're absolutely sure?"

"I'll show ya the medical record, or take the test, or we can just wait until the baby is born with black hair and a permanent scowl." Fenn put his hands on her upper arms and bent his head to meet her eyes. "Can I say 'congratulations' now?"

Leia threw her arms around him.

"I hope it's a girl," he whispered in her ear.

"Me too."

"Do ya know this one? _Ke barjurir gar'ade, jagyc'ade kot'la a dalyc'ade kotla'shya_."

Train your sons to be strong, but your daughters to be stronger.

Fenn's death hit her hard, especially those first fragile weeks after Shysa was born. There was no time to properly grieve for him. She had to be there for Jonah and Kyd, who lost a beloved uncle. She had to coax and guide her husband through his his new duties as the _Mand'alor_. And she had to do all of that while caring for a newborn.

Her daughter would never meet the great man she was named for, but at least there was that little bit of Fenn Shysa, going on into the galaxy. She thought about it often, as she watched Shysa grow. And she wondered if Fett thought about it. If he knew the answer.

She kept her promise and said nothing, but she also deliberately said nothing to Fenn about it being a secret. She counted on the _Mand'alor_ 's big mouth. But if Fenn managed to convey anything before his death, Fett had never once said a word about it. Never gave any indication. He held Shysa only minutes after she was born, when she was still blood-smeared and howling, and he smiled at her. One of those rare, full smiles. "She's perfect," he said.

And Shysa was.

It was getting dark now, and the temperature was dropping, but Leia kept pacing and watching the skies until she saw the familiar outline of _Slave I_. Time slowed to a crawl as the ship landed, and the hatch lowered.

Fett was barely off the ramp before she was there, and then at last her daughter was in her arms again and it felt just like the first time, and every time since then.

When she cradled that tiny baby against her chest and her cries finally quieted. When Shysa fell and skinned her knee because she ran before she walked. When her skin was hot with fever and she didn't want to leave her lap. Every single second her daughter spent in her arms was exactly as precious and as important as this moment.

Her right arm was in a sling, but her left arm wrapped tightly around Leia's neck. "Mommy." Her heart beat steadily where Leia's hand was pressed against her back, and her hair was wild and smelled like hospital soap. "Can we go home now?"

"Of course we can." She looked up at her husband, and their eyes met. Leia moved closer, their daughter pressed between them as she put her hand on the back of his neck, urging him to bend closer until his forehead was almost touching hers. "We have to send a message," she said quietly. "We have to make sure that this never happens again. I can't-"

"I'll take care of it."

* * *

Luke was exhausted by the time he reached Coruscant. He tried to sleep on the transport, but there was something hanging in the air around him. A disturbance in the Force that he couldn't quite name.

It was over, but it wasn't over. There was still the matter of Wayland, and this "dark Jedi."

When he reached Leia's apartment, Dyrk was the one who opened the door. "Everything sorted?"

"Pretty much. The kidnappers are all being held in detention. The trial will be next month at the earliest, and there's a good chance Shysa won't have to testify."

"That's good."

"Yeah. Where is everyone?" He caught sight of the wall chrono and answered his own question. "Oh, right. Sleeping."

Dyrk nodded. "Your sister arrived with Shysa about eight hours ago. The Coruscant investigators were here for almost three, and then Leia took Shysa to her bed to sleep. The boys turned in a few hours ago."

"What about Fett?"

"Don't know. Haven't seen him." Dyrk took a step closer and peered at Luke's face. "You all right, Jedi?"

"I'm-" Luke tried to come up with words, but couldn't.

"Hey," Dyrk said gently. "She's home. There's still work to be done, but take a moment and celebrate, yeah?"

"You're right." Luke threw up his hands. "You're right," he said again. And then because he needed it, he threw his arm around Dyrk and hugged him tight. "I'm so glad you're here."

Dyrk returned the embrace, his breath warm against Luke's cheek. "No place I'd rather be."

Luke pulled back just enough to see his friend's face. Dyrk touched his cheek, and in a moment of weakness, Luke let his lips brush against Dyrk's before he tucked his face into the other man's neck.

"I'm sorry," Luke murmured. "I know I shouldn't do that."

"No, you shouldn't." Dyrk held him a tighter, his hand rubbing soothing circles on his back.

"Are you still with…um…"

"You forgot his name, didn't you?"

Luke burrowed into his shoulder, trying to hide. "I'm really tired," he protested. Also, he _had_ forgotten the man's name. It was Jojin or Elbi or something. Something youthful. The name of someone who was probably a professional star pilot and spent his weekends competing on zero-gravity obstacle courses and having lots of sex with Dyrk. He was definitely not a perpetually exhausted teacher trying to preserve an ancient order while keeping his adolescent students from killing one another.

"What's the status on the Wayland expedition?" He asked, not ready to leave Dyrk's arms, but needing a change of subject.

"The Protectors touched down a few hours ago. Seems this Joruus has himself set up as the self-proclaimed 'guardian' of Mount Tantiss. The locals are all terrified of his magic."

"Maybe he can be saved from the dark side of the Force."

"Maybe. But since no one's in immediate danger, rest up first." Dyrk pulled back, his hands on Luke's shoulders, and turned him around. "I'm sure you know where the guest room is."

"Isn't that where you're sleeping?"

"I'm fine out here. Sleep as long as you like. I'll let you know if anything happens."


	7. Chapter 7

When Leia opened her eyes, she could see sunlight through the small, opaque windows that ran across the southern wall of her bedroom. It was late, but quiet. She looked at her daughter, snoring softly beside her and resisted the urge to gather her up and hold her close.

Shysa hadn't slept well. It took her a long time to fall asleep, and when she did she had nightmares. "I'm here," Leia told her over and over again. "You're safe."

Now she was finally sleeping, and Leia really, really had to use the 'fresher. She slowly detangled herself from the blankets and rose carefully from the bed. She relieved her bladder and splashed some water on her face, and since Shysa was still asleep, decided to slip out to the kitchen for a cup of caf.

Dyrk had beat her to it. He was sitting at the table finishing off a piece of toast, his cup nearly empty. "Your husband just comm'd in," he told her. "He wants me to go retrieve his ship from Carida. Luke's here now, so I figured it would be all right."

"Of course." Leia filled her own cup. "Did he...say when he'd be back?"

Dyrk shook his head. "Sorry. I didn't think to ask."

"It's fine. He'll be back when he's back." She set her cup down on the table with a little too much force and the dark liquid sloshed over the rim. Dyrk handed her a napkin without comment. "Thank you." He nodded and tipped his own cup up, finishing off his caf. Leia was beginning to develop a certain appreciation for Dyrk. "I was trying to remember," she said after she'd taken a few sips of caf, "You weren't in the guard for very long, were you?"

"No. About six months, I think."

"I guess it wasn't your thing."

He smiled down at his empty cup. "Actually, your husband fired me."

"He what?" Leia stared at him for a moment. "Why don't remember this?"

Dyrk shrugged. "It was a long time ago. And I won't say he was right, but he he had a point. I was young. Maybe a little too caught up in the excitement of it." He stood and took his dishes to the autocleaner.

"Hmm." Leia continued to drink her caf and wondered if she should offer to reinstate him. He had a very useful range of skills, he was reliable, and Jonah and Kys actually listened to him. All of those were excellent reasons to keep him around.

"How is she?" Dyrk asked as he gathered up the rest of Fett's armor. Leia glanced reflexively at the bedroom door, but there were no signs that indicated that her daughter was awake.

"She's…" The ache returned to her chest. "It's going to take time."

He nodded gravely. "Well, that's to be expected, isn't it?"

"I suppose so." Leia resuming drinking her caf while Dyrk suited up. He really made an excellent double for her husband. They had the same height and build, it was only when he moved that the illusion was broken, and she supposed she was the only one who would really notice that.

For the finishing touch Dyrk locked the helmet into place and spread his hands out. "Good?"

"Good. _K'oyacyi_."

* * *

When Luke stumbled out of the guest room, he found his sister sitting at the kitchen table. There was a half-empty cup of caf on the table in front of her, but her hands were in her lap and her gaze was fixed absently on the wall. She jerked upright as he approached, and twisted in her seat to face him. "Oh, Luke." She stood and they hugged each other tightly. Concern immediately settled over him like a fog. She felt...cold.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I mean…" She held up her hands and smiled bitterly. "Nothing besides everything."

"I know." Luke said, his hands on her shoulders. "But she's home. She's safe."

Her eyes dropped briefly. "She'll never be the same."

"She doesn't have to be. She's strong. Give her time." She nodded reluctantly and he dropped his hands and stepped back. "Did Fett make it home yet?"

Leia turned away and picked up her cup. "You just missed him." She carried it to the machine for a refill.

Luke blinked in surprise. "He left again? Already?"

"He had something to take care of."

"What about Dyrk?"

"He left too. It's just us." Her commlink buzzed, and she went to check the message.

"Is that Fett?"

"Mon Mothma." Leia read it aloud. "'My dear friend, words can't express my joy. Please take all the time you need to be with your family and your dear little girl. The nominations were rescheduled for next week.'"

Luke shook his head. "Subtle."

"She's worried. There's been a big push in the core worlds to support the nomination of Oktan Oha Ol'et as her replacement."

"And that's bad?"

"Oh, it's...Oktan was a separatist sympathizer during the Clone War. He was in university at the time and had an underground holo broadcast. He later joined the rebellion, but he'll never let Mon Mothma or any of the old senate forget that they let Palpatine rise to power."

"So it's a personal grudge."

"And the fact that he's a vain, shallow attention-seeker who has more experience opposing government than being part of it." Leia picked up her cup again and took another sip. "Mon and I have talked about this for years. She wants me to follow her as Chancellor."

Luke frowned. "But do you _want_ to be Chancellor?"

"I-" Her commlink buzzed again. This time she laid it on the tabletop projector and hit the button to receive. A hologram of a man in Mandalorian armor sprang up. "Senator Organa. I'm Commander Maur, of the Thirteenth Protectors Division. I was told to contact you with any updates to the situation on Wayland."

"Yes, Commander. Please, go ahead."

"We've secured a landing area, but we've been unable to get any closer to Mount Tantiss. The mountain is heavily patrolled by battle droids, and there are several active canon towers to repel ships. We need reinforcements."

"I'll send help immediately. Can you hold the landing area?"

"Yes, Senator."

"I'll contact you once your reinforcements are en route." She ended the comm and looked across the table at Luke. She didn't have to say it.

"I don't want to leave you," He said. "Not until Boba returns."

She tapped the tabletop lightly with her fingers. "Am I wrong, or are the two of you actually getting along for once?"

Luke shrugged. "The Force works in mysterious ways."

His sister smiled ruefully and lifted her cup in a mock toast. Her gaze shifted back to the comm projector. "I don't want you to leave either, but if this Joruus is some kind of rogue force-user, you're the only person really qualified to handle him. I don't want to put good Mandalorians in danger."

It hit Luke then, and his pulse skipped. "Dyrk's on his way out there, isn't he?"

"He will be soon."

"Where's Dyrk going?" Kyd entered the kitchen with Jonah trailing groggily behind.

"To Wayland," Luke answered. "To find Joruus C'baoth."

"Can we go?" Jonah perked up a little bit at his brother's suggestion, and both sent pleading looks to their mother.

"Your father and I will discuss it."

Kyd's eyes widened. "That means yes."

"No, it's doesn't."

"Yes it does." Jonah nodded in agreement. "When the answer is no, you just say no."

Leia gave her sons an exasperated look. "That's not true."

"Yes it is." The retort came from the doorway, and from a much younger, higher voice. Shysa stood there, her hair wild and standing on end. "I want to go too."

"And I want you to eat breakfast." Leia turned toward the food storage, and Luke felt a surge of admiration for his sister. No matter what the circumstances, she always managed to make everything seem normal and familiar and comforting. Shysa certainly seemed content as Jonah pulled out a chair for her, and Kyd warmed her up a cup of milk.

Luke's commlink buzzed, and his first thought was that it might be Dyrk. But it wasn't. It was a communication from the authorities on Onderon. He selected the option to receive it as a text message rather than a recording.

 _Master Skywalker. I regret to inform you that one of them men you remanded to our custody (data file attached) has escaped. Every officer I have is currently searching for him and we are confident that he will soon be returned to the detention. I humbly beseech you to reassure Senator Organa, her husband, and the Chancellor of that certainty. Regards, Commander Lett Fell'uni._

Luke moved over to Leia very casually and showed the message to her. "Keep me posted," she said, and went back to fixing Shysa's breakfast. Luke felt it again, the coldness that surrounded her and kept him at a distance. What was she keeping from him?

She just didn't seem surprised by the commander's message. She might be trying to hide her reaction from her children, but he thought he would see something, some flicker of alarm or concern. He opened a new communication and started a message to Fett. _Where are you? I have to leave and Leia needs you._

The moment he sent it, something occurred to him. He started a new message to his brother-in-law. _Tell me you didn't have anything to do with-_

His fingers stopped of their own accord. Leia set down a plate in front of Shysa and bent to kiss the top of her daughter's head. Jonah sat on one side of her and Kyd on the other. Shysa grinned at something Jonah said and picked up her fork. Kyd patted her back approvingly and went to get her more milk.

He couldn't send that message. Not if there was a chance that it was even remotely true. The line was encrypted, but even a secure line could be compromised. He cleared the message field and started over. _You need to get back here. Now._

"Are you hungry?" Leia asked him, as cool and calm as a deep pool of water. It took him a moment to answer.

"Not really."


	8. Chapter 8

Shysa heard voices in the next room and her heart raced in terror. She gathered the blankets closer, inhaling her mother's scent, and forced herself to open her eyes and see her parents' bedroom. The panic passed.

She normally wasn't allowed to sleep in their bed. Five years old was too big for that. But for the past two nights, she'd slept here beside her mother, and no one said anything about it.

The door slid open, and she sat up. "Dad! You're back."

He set his helmet on the table beside the bed. "I told your mother I wouldn't wake you."

"I wasn't asleep."

"Does your arm hurt?"

"No."

He sat down on the edge of the bed, and his gloved hand smoothed over her hair. "I'm going to take a shower. Try to sleep."

Shysa laid back down, but she knew she wouldn't sleep. Not yet. If she fell asleep she would be back in that dark room, and the bad men were waiting for her. She watched her dad disappear into the 'fresher and listened to the faint roar of the water. When he emerged in a loose shirt and pants, she shut her eyes tight so he would think she was sleeping.

"I saw that," he said.

She faked a snore.

"Go to sleep, Shysa."

She opened her eyes. "Can you leave the door open?"

He opened the door, and tapped the control panel. It stayed open. Shysa heard the low murmur of her mother's voice, and the chatter of the holonews.

She wished Jonah and Kyd hadn't left with Uncle Luke. They'd been so nice to her since her return, bringing her treats and telling her funny stories. Would her dad stay here now, or would he leave to join them?

She reached out and touched the cool metal surface of his helmet. Her fingers traced the lines of the visor, and brushed over the dent in the dome. Maybe she could get up to get a drink. She wasn't really thirsty, but then she could sit with her mom and dad while they watched the holonews.

She slid out of bed and padded quietly into the hallway, but stopped at the arched doorway that led into the main room. Her dad was sitting in one of the big, comfy armchairs, but he was sitting very straight, his face carved from stone. Her mother stood a few feet away, her arms folded tightly in front of her. They were both watching the holonews, and Shysa realized that the Mon Calamari newscaster had just said her mother's name.

"-Plagued by accusations of conspiracy and murder. The senator released this statement." The image changed to a still holo of her mother in the long, formal robes she wore to work, and Shysa heard her voice through the projector's audio.

"These allegations are nothing more than the imaginings of conspiracy theorists and tabloid journalists. We only want privacy as our family recovers from this traumatic ordeal."

The image changed back to the newscaster. "The holovid, which we obtained yesterday, shows the brutal dismemberment and death of Qual Una Pentant. Due to the incredibly graphic nature of it, we can only show you this clip."

This time the image was dark and flickering. It was the cargo bay of a ship, and the back hatch was open. The ship seemed to be flying low over water, Shysa could see it glittering faintly beyond the hatch. There was a whirring sound, and a man in a body harness appeared at the top of the holo. A mechanical arm lowered him over the open hatch. There were manacles attached to his wrists and ankles, and fibercord hung loosely from each binding, like the dangling strings of a puppet.

He was crying and twisting around. Pulling desperately at the harness.

"Please, please…I'll do anything, please…"

To the right of the cage, a konar weight marked at two tons was mounted on an ejection track over the hatch. There was a sharp snik, and the weight plunged out the hatch and created a white plume as it dropped into the water below.

"Noooo, have mercy, please…"

Four more weights slid down the track to the mouth of hatch. Shysa realized that each fibercord was attached to a weight. Four limbs. Four manacles. Four weights.

"Pleaaaasse…" words faded into incoherent babbling. There was something about the man that almost seemed...

Snik. The first weight shot off the track and dropped through the hatch.

And then the Mon Calamari was back.

"The recording was transmitted anonymously to a number of Pentant's friends, family and business associates. Public speculation quickly centered on Senator Organa's husband Boba Fett, a bounty hunter and the chief warlord of the Mandalorian clans."

The image changed to a heavy man in a stained apron. "Oh, for sure he did it. I lived on Tatooine for four years. Out there, man, Boba Fett...You see him, you cross the street, know what I'm saying?"

The image switched back to the newscaster. "Investigators in Coruscant could only confirm that they interviewed both Senator Organa and Boba Fett, and neither are considered to be suspects at this time. We will continue to bring you updates as the story develops."

Movement caught Shysa's eye as he mother abruptly dropped her hands to her side. "You showed them the security footage from Carida?"

"I let them find it on their own."

She nodded. "If they find anything, any evidence-"

"They won't." Her dad lifted his hand and turned off the news with a gesture, but he kept looking straight ahead. The room was silent. "Your brother," he said after a moment. "He doesn't know for sure, but he suspects."

"He didn't say anything to me about it. Maybe he's looking the other way."

"Not very Jedi-like of him."

"We're his family." She touched her throat. Her mouth was pressed into a thin line and there was a tightness in her voice when she spoke. "Did you...did you watch the whole time?"

"Yes." His right hand curled into a fist where it rested on the chair arm. He straightened his fingers deliberately, and they fell into relaxed position, empty of emotion.

Her mom looked at him for a long, silent moment, like she wasn't sure what to say or do. After a few seconds he spoke again, his voice even and low. "I killed my first man with a sniper rifle when I wasn't much older than Shysa. I've killed virtually everything that moves, at one time or another. A hundred different species, sentient and dumb. If it breathes, I've probably killed it, or something like it. But I've killed clean. I've killed without stretching it out."

"I'm so sorry," her mom said quietly. "That must have been awful." She walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder, and then against his cheek. He looked up at her. She sat down on his lap and wrapped her arms around him, and he returned the embrace, his forehead pressed into her neck.

"It was."

Shysa thought she should probably sneak back into the bedroom. This felt like something private, like when her mother put her hand on her father's belt and smiled up at him or when he slid his hand up the back of her shirt when he kissed her. She wasn't supposed to see it. But just then a yawn caught her off guard, and she must have made some noise, because her mother sat up and looked straight at her. "Shysa. How long have you been standing there?"

"I dunno. Not that long."

"You're supposed to be sleeping," her dad said, but he patted her mom's lap in invitation and she climbed up on the chair with them. Her mom put her arms around her, and her dad put his arms around both of them, and for the first time in days Shysa felt sleepy.

"Are you going to leave?" She asked. She laid her head against her dad's shoulder, and he rested his head on top of hers.

"Yes. But I'll be back soon."

"I don't want you to go," she grumbled. Her mother rubbed her arm lightly.

"Maybe we should go with you," she said.

She felt the weight of her dad's head lifting and heard a sharp note in his voice. "Why?"

"I think we could use some family time."

"Family time," he repeated.

"A Fett family hunting trip. Shysa and I can stay with Slave I in case you need air support."

"That won't look bad to the press?"

"All they need to know is that we're taking time to be with our children. Everything having to do with Wayland is first-level classified. Mon Mothma will keep it off the holonet at all costs."

Shysa stayed very still. She felt her dad's chest rise and fall heavily. "All right."

Her mom leaned over and kissed her cheek, then her dad's forehead. "I'm going to go take a bath. Make sure Shysa gets back to bed eventually."

"She's fine here for now." He shifted to let her mom get up, and then settled Shysa back against his chest. "Will you sleep if I hold you?"

Shysa considered this. "If I fall asleep will you put me back in bed?"

"No."

"Okay." She closed her eyes. "I'll sleep."

He settled down into the chair. "Good girl. Maybe I will too."

* * *

 _Author's Note: The "I've killed virtually everything that moves," line is from J.D. Montgomery's excellent short story_ A Barve Like That _in_ Tales from Jabba's Palace _._


	9. Chapter 9

Luke sliced the last droid in half with a downward sweep of his lightsaber before he took cover behind a low wall. "This is taking too long."

"I agree." Fett keep his rifle raised until the others had made it to the wall. The landing platform was empty now, but it wouldn't be that way for long.

He hadn't seen this many droids since his childhood. Most of the factories were destroyed during the Clone Wars and never rebuilt. The Emperor must have been buying up lots of decommissioned battle droids and syncing them up to an automated defense system. "C'baoth could be long gone by now."

"No, he's still here." The Jedi looked up at the dark, foreboding structure built into the side of Mount Tantiss. It was certainly fortified like an Imperial storehouse, but "castle" might have been a better description. "I can feel him. He's at the top."

"Incoming droid platoons from oh-three and oh-seven," Dyrk announced. "I don't like this location."

"How many droids can they _have_?" Jonah questioned.

"A lot more than we've seen."

"The time between the waves is getting shorter," Kyd noted. "They must be programmed to escalate."

"There's a door," Fett indicated a small entrance on the left side of the building.

"I don't see what choice what have," Luke replied. He turned toward Dyrk. "What's the latest from Maur? Are the Mandalorians still holding the village?"

"They're holding it. Not entirely without casualties...but they're holding it."

The Jedi nodded grimly. "Jonah, we need to pull their fire so your dad can get to the door. Kyd, Dyrk, once we've got them turned, it's detonator time."

"My favorite time," Kyd said cheerfully.

Jonah drew his yellow-bladed lightsaber and ignited it. "It's a good day...for some droids to die."

Fett wondered if he should remind them to take this seriously. This wasn't a training sim. The ammunition was live and the danger was real. On the other hand, they were both wearing armor and under the watchful command of their uncle. And they could handle themselves. He'd worked damn hard to make sure of that.

Luke made a swift motion and he and Jonah split off from opposite ends of the wall. Fett was over the wall a second after them. His jets roared as his feet left the ground and he blasted towards the door. Behind him there was an explosion to his left and then to his right. Detonator time.

He dropped the thrust of the jets and came skidding to a stop. The door was automated, just like everything else in this place. Four large defense droids stood inside, two by two, less than four feet away. They raised their weapons.

Four quick shots, and they were down. He kept his rifle up as he moved through the door. "All clear."

"Two more platoons just landed," Dyrk reported as they rushed in behind him.

"On it." Kyd already had the control panel off the wall, sparks flying as he pulled at wires. The blast doors slid shut, sealing them in.

Fett moved a few feet down the hall. "There's a lift to the right." The doors at the end of the corridor opened, and four destroyer droids rolled in and snapped into attack position. _Fierfek_. This place was full of nasty surprises. He flattened himself against the wall and pulled an EMP grenade from his belt.

"Jonah! Shield Kyd." Luke stepped in front of Dyrk as the destroyers opened fire. Their shields made them impervious to blaster bolts, but not lightsabers. Two saber-wielders could deflect and advance close enough to cut through them.

But Fett had a quicker solution. He activated the EMP grenade and tossed it right into the middle of them. Blue sparks crackled over them as their processors overloaded and the shields went down.

Jonah threw his saber, the yellow blade arcing through the air. It sliced through two of the droids, cutting them half. The blade vanished, and he called it back to his hand just as Luke disposed the remaining destroyers. "Don't do that," he told his nephew. "If you lose it, I'm not giving you another one."

Jonah shrugged. "Dad's got some extras."

Luke turned toward Fett and gave him weary "see-what-I-have-to-deal-with" look. The doors to the lift opened and six defense droids raised their weapons. No shields on these droids. Dyrk and Kyd shot them all down in seconds.

One of them fell forward, and the lift door crunched into it, jamming the door. The lights on the control panel began to flash red. "Attention," said a mechanical voice. "Maintenance required."

"Well, maybe that keeps more of them from coming down," Dyrk said.

"It also keeps us from going up," Luke pointed out.

"If we keep this up, we'll get to the top sometime next week. We need to find the control center and shut the system down."

"Or," Kyd said, "we could take control of it."

Dyrk pointed at him. "I like the way he thinks."

"Okay." Luke agreed. "Find the control center and do what you can. I have to keep going up."

"Hold on." Dyrk clearly didn't like this idea. "How are you going to do that?"

"I don't know. I'll scale the outside wall if I have to."

"There's a terrace on the top floor," Fett reminded him. "He wouldn't be expecting us to come that way."

"Us?"

"I can get you there faster." He checked the fuel level on his jets and did some quick calculations. The weight of a second person would burn it down quick, but they would make it.

Luke put his hand on Dyrk's shoulder. "You'll be okay?"

"Of course." Dyrk lifted his rifle and checked the charges. "Three mandos against a few hundred battle droids is barely a fair fight." Then he put his gloved hand on Luke's cheek. "Be careful, Jedi."

"I will." They both dropped their hands at the same time. "Listen to Dyrk," Luke told his nephews. As soon as he turned his back, Kyd made a serious of exasperated gestures and Dyrk took him by the shoulders and turned him.

"That way. Let's go."

Jonah took a step back towards them, still facing Fett. "If you drop Uncle Luke mom will be _pissed_."

"I know. Fight smart. And stay together."

"Yes sir." Jonah gave him a cocky salute and turned to to follow Dyrk and his brother. Fett watched them until they disappeared at the end of the corridor.

"You know," Luke said. "It just occurred to me that there are no windows."

"We're going to make one. Stand back." Fett took a knee. He braced himself and bowed his head. He didn't need the extra weight of the missile attached to his jetpack anyway.

The explosion blasted out heat that he could feel even through his suit and the impact shook the floor. When the smoke cleared, there was hole in the wall, a four by four circle of pale blue sky. Luke cautiously approached it and leaned out to take a look. "It's a sheer drop down, no platforms or droids. The terrace is about ten stories up."

"Take this." He offered his rifle to his brother-in-law. "You'll have to be the gunner. I didn't bring a harness, so my arms will be full."

"You can't say this isn't bringing us closer together," Luke quipped.

Fett engaged his commlink. "Leia."

"I'm here."

"Bring the ship around to the east side of the castle, keep the shields up and don't get too close. On my signal, bring it up to the top."

"Copy that," Shysa chirped. "Mom, activate the rear thrusters."

"Are you letting her pilot?"

"We're co-piloting. Shysa, ease up a little on the accelerator first."

"That's not how Dad does it." He could almost see her in the pilot's chair, her small hands wrapped around the A-stick, her brow furrowed in concentration. Under his helmet he closed his eyes, holding onto that image and the knowledge of what he almost lost.

Because of Joruus C'baoth.

"Shysa. Do as your mother says."

"Fine," she grumbled. "But it's not as fun this way."

"Fett out." He shut off the comm and opened his eyes. Luke was watching him with a wary expression. "Ready to get close?"

"Wait. I need you to promise me something."

"What?"

"I need him alive."

He stopped with his hand on the blacked, ragged edge of the wall. "Why?"

"I need to know more about the Emperor's cloning program. If there were others..." Luke took a step closer to him. "And you owe me."

Fett didn't need him to clarify. The only people who could credibly implicate him in the Onderon jailbreak were Luke and Dyrk, and Dyrk's Mandalorian loyalty was unshakable. Unless, of course, a certain blue-eyed Jedi convinced him otherwise.

He looked at his brother-in-law, who gazed back at him steadily. He didn't often see a resemblance between his wife and her brother, but at that moment he did.

Maybe confining C'baoth to prison was enough. In the darker recesses of his mind the smell of salt water and and blood still lingered, as did the screams of a man whose limbs were being violently torn from his body, one by one.

"You have my word," he told Luke. "We take him alive."


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I have never read the Thrawn Trilogy, so I'm possibly getting Joruus C'baoth all wrong.

* * *

The second they landed on the terrace, Fett let out a hiss. "He's gone."

"No. He's still here." Luke called his lightsaber into his hand and slowly walked into the open pavilion at the top of the castle. Long purple curtains blew between columns in the cold wind. If he looked between them he could see all the way down to the village where the Mandalorians tenuously held the spaceport. Their time was not unlimited.

Joruus was somewhere close. He could feel it.

There was a lift, but it was open and waiting. He hadn't gone down that way.

Fett gestured. "Look."

The castle was built into the side of the mountain, and there was a hanging bridge that led from the pavilion to a rocky ledge. A narrow path above the ledge led up to peak of Mount Tantiss, wreathed in trees.

Luke stepped carefully out onto the bridge, the wind pulling at his robes. He crossed to the mountainside with Fett close behind.

"Footprints," the bounty hunter noted as they stepped over a thin patch of snow. "Just one set."

"He's waiting for us in the woods."

"Smart." Fett didn't sound happy about it.

Behind them, there was a mechanical humming as the gun turret posted beside the bridge came to life.

" _Fierfek_. Move."

"Wait," Luke held out his arm. The turret had stopped moving. He engaged his commlink. "Dyrk?"

"Good news," Dyrk returned cheerfully. "We are now in command of a fully armed and operational Imperial storehouse. Anywhere in particular you want me to point this thing?"

"He went into the woods. Stand by."

"Standing by."

Luke disengaged the commlink and started forward again.

"You should marry him."

His feet stopped moving so abruptly, he almost tripped. " _What_ did you just say?"

"Dyrk." Fett brushed past him. "You should marry him."

"You...you don't even like Dyrk. Remember? You _fired_ him."

"That was a long time ago. He's grown up." The bounty hunter started up a rocky crag, and Luke slowly followed.

"I don't believe this. You've never _once_ taken an interest in my personal life, and now you've suddenly decided that I should get married."

"If you don't want to get married, don't get married." Fett paused at the top of the slope, checking their surroundings. "But men who will storm an Imperial storehouse for you don't come along every day."

Luke could only stare at his brother-in-law in stunned silence.

"Leia likes him. I think she wants to keep him around."

Now _that_ was more like the Boba Fett he was used to. "So offer him a job or something. We tried the whole relationship thing. We're not compatible."

"The fuck does that mean?"

"It's...personal." Luke winced a little. "It's not anything...I'm just not into sex. He is." Fett stilled, and Luke took a quick look around. "What is it?"

"Too small to be a human. An animal." The bounty hunter started down the slope, and Luke followed.

"It's not that I can't do it, it's just not important to me."

"And it's important to him?"

"He said it wasn't, but I could sense it. It bothered him. And with my life being the way it is...I just think...no, I _know_ he deserves better. I thought he'd find someone else, and he has, a few times. But every time I'm around him, I can still feel it. Deep down, he's still waiting for me to change."

"He said that?"

"No. But I can feel it."

Fett gave a snort that registered through his helmet. "You rely too much on the Force and not enough on your own mouth and ears."

"Wait." Now it was Luke's turn to freeze. "Something's coming."

"Brushchuck." Fett pointed. There was a small, furry creature waddling along a ditch.

With a blinking red light on it's back.

The explosion knocked them both off their feet. Luke staggered to his feet with ringing ears, grasping desperately at the Force to quiet the jumble in his head. He saw Fett, six or so feet away, pushing himself up off the ground and then just behind him, a tall man with long gray hair and a beard. In spite of the cold, he wore only loose pants and a sleeveless robe, his chest and feet bare.

"I've been waiting for you," said Joruus C'baoth. "You and your mercenary friend."

To Luke's surprise, Fett didn't attack. He remained on his hands and knees on the rough ground and reached for his rifle in an unhurried fashion. Then he drew up on his knees and placed the barrel under his chin.

Oh no.

"Let him go!" Luke could feel dark current of Joruus' control but he couldn't break it. "I'm the one you want."

"I knew this day would come." Joruus moved in closer behind the bounty hunter. He smiled, bright and empty, and Luke's heart sank. Reason had left Joruus long ago. "I have seen this many times in my visions. You will be my apprentice, and together we will form a new Jedi order. We will finally have our proper place in the galaxy, not as servants but as rulers."

"We have much to discuss," Luke said quickly. "But release my bodyguard. He has no part in this. Let him go, and then I'll know I can trust you."

"Trust?" Joruus laughed. "You speak of trust? This man has no life in the Force and therefore no worth, but he is not merely your bodyguard. I see everything. Those he lost. Those he killed. The woman he thinks of. Your...sister. She must join us as well."

"She'll never join us if you kill her husband."

"Tell her to come."

Luke engaged his commlink. "Leia. We need you at the top." He cut the line before she could ask questions. If Joruus even caught a hint of deception he would kill Fett in a second.

"There are...children…" The effort of removing information from the bounty hunter's mind seemed to be costing Joruus. His thin shoulders rose and fell. "But only one is strong with the Force. He will be mine to train as well. The others...will not be needed."

There was a deep, guttural hum as Slave I rose up over the crest of mountain. Luke noticed immediately that the ship was in the upright attack position. _Leia...Hear me..._

"Tell her to-" Joruus' words were cut off as the lower guns on the ship opened fire, blasting up dirt and snow less than four feet from where Joruus stood. Luke knew the second his concentration broke, and clearly so did Fett. The bounty hunter swiftly turned his rifle in his hand and clubbed the old man in the stomach.

Joruus staggered backwards, his hands drawing into claws. "Treachery!" He cried. "You are unworthy!" White lightning shot from his fingertips, and Luke rushed forward to block the attack with his lightsaber. Lightning crackled over his blade as he advanced.

Joruus gave a cry and sent Luke flying back with a powerful Force-push. He nearly fell over Fett, and as he struggled to regain his balance he saw the old man vanish into the shadows of the trees.

Luke grasped his brother-in-law's shoulder. "You okay?"

"Rgh." Fett spread a hand over his helmet as if he were trying to ease headache. "Hurts...like a banthafucker."

"I know. Let's go finish this."

Joruus was panicked now. Maybe he realized he was outnumbered, or maybe his thinking had crossed the line into fully irrational. They easily tracked him in the woods. When they spotted him, he was trying to scramble up a rocky bank. His bare feet slid among the smaller rocks as he grasped at the larger stones.

"No," he hissed. "I will not be cast aside again. I am Joruus C'baoth, who died and was born again by the will of the Force. I am the Guardian of Mount Tantiss. I am the Chosen One, who will bring balance to the Force and peace to the galaxy!"

Luke looked over at Fett. The bounty hunter raised his rifle and flipped the setting to stun. "Or you're just a miserable little shit."

Joruus raised his hands in claws again, but the ground shook in a terrifying shudder, and he stumbled as the rocks around them began to shift and slide. Fett grabbed at Luke and he hastily gathered the Force around them like a shield as the ground turned to liquid beneath their feet and carried them down.

When they finally slid to a stop, they were a good thirty feet from their previous position, choking in a cloud of dust, but no more than bruised. Well, a little more than bruised. There was blood running down from beneath Fett's helmet, but he was moving and didn't seem badly injured.

"A little... _warning_ next time…" He spat, his voice rough through damaged filters.

"Warning? I didn't-" Luke looked up and saw Joruus, buried in rocks up to his chest. His left arm was visible, bloodied and bent at an unnatural angle. There was also blood around his mouth and beard.

"Help me," he cried, his eyes wild and frightened like an animal.

Luke could feel the coldness of his terror, but there was something else in the air, something colder and more powerful.

And familiar.

He turned his head and saw Leia, not a hair out of place, her clothes untouched by dust. She raised her right hand, and a large boulder to her right lifted out of the rubble like it weighed no more than a feather. Joruus watched, his mouth agape, as the shadow of it fell over him.

Fett understood first. "Leia, don't-"

"NO!" Luke cried as the boulder dropped, with perfect aim, directly on the dark Jedi's head.

The sound it made was unlike anything Luke had ever heard. A wet crunch more than a splat, along with the oddly distinct sound of blood and tissue hitting the surrounding stones.

Then his sister lifted the stone up and dropped it again. And again. Until there was nothing recognizably human beneath it.

"Leia! Stop!"

She stopped. Her nose and cheeks were pink in the cold air, but her face was perfectly composed. Only the rapid rise and fall of her chest gave any indication of stress. "Sorry. I may have gotten a little carried away."


	11. Chapter 11

It took them hours to fall asleep. Jonah and Kyd were running high on adrenaline after their first real combat mission, and Shysa kept yelling at them to shut up. But finally they were all asleep, snoring peacefully in their hammocks in the cargo hold of Slave I. Leia stood there for a few minutes, listening to the familiar hum and gutter of the old ship and the sounds of her children sleeping.

Then she went up to the berthe to check on her husband. She could feel it before she even saw him sitting on the bunk, slumped forward with his hands over his face.

"How's your head?" She asked as she approached.

"Fine." He dropped his hands, but he didn't look up. He was stripped down to his undershirt and pants, freshly showered.

She touched the small, neat bandage at his temple where the targeting gear inside his helmet had been driven into his skin. A superficial wound, though it bled like an artery. Her fingers trailed down his cheek. "Did you take something?"

"Yes."

She leaned closer to him, speaking quietly into his ear. "I know what it feels like to have someone in your head, tearing through your thoughts like they're made of flimsy. I can help."

His shoulders tightened. "When did this start?"

"When I was pregnant with Jonah."

That made him look up. Leia smiled wryly. "It was hardly anything then. Just...a feeling I had sometimes. A connection. It was years before I even tried to use it, and it scared me so much the first time I didn't try again for years." She sat down on the bunk beside him. "You know I never wanted this. I fought it for as long as I could, but I couldn't run from it. I started learning things on my own. Figuring it out. I kept it hidden from you and from Luke, because, well...do I really have to explain why?"

He didn't respond.

She put her hand on his back. There was still tension in his spine, but he leaned, ever so slightly, into her touch. She moved closer and laid her cheek against his shoulder. "When I brought the ship up to the top of mountain, and I saw you…"

Shysa hadn't understood what was happening, but Leia had. The moment she saw her husband on his knees she could feel Joruus' grip. Fett had a strong mind, and was not easily controlled. He could hold his own against probing and suggestion, but Joruus had no such restraint. His grasp was brutal and heedless of damage.

"I was afraid," she admitted. "I could have lost you. You could have died right there in front of me, and in front of our daughter. I just couldn't sit there and wait."

He reached over and took her hand. "That part I understand."

"It isn't like either of you bothered to tell me that you wanted him alive." Her free hand stroked up and down the hard plane of his thigh. "Lay down with me," she said, pressing a light kiss just under his jaw. "Just for a little while."

She could feel the wounds Joruus left behind, the raw and jagged edges. She couldn't make them vanish, but she could soothe them. She could help him rest.

He laid back, and she curled around his side, one arm around his waist, one leg draped over his. His arms wrapped around her, and she pressed her cheek against the steady throb of his heart in his chest.

She was careful. Her touch was light. She rubbed her palm against his stomach while she breathed warmth into his mind. She nuzzled into his jaw while whispering security in his thoughts. She picked up the fractured bits of memory and smoothed over the cracks and gaps. _Just remember that I'm here. Remember that I love you._

And when he turned toward her and kissed her, she pressed into him, catching his tongue with hers and urging him closer. She slipped her hand under his shirt and felt the rapid beat of his heart, and relief bubbled up inside of her. There he was, just like always, warm and eager and hers.

The bunk was never well-suited for this, but they always found a way before. This time it was with her on top. It was with panting and soft laughter as she ground her hips against his and pulled on his lower lip with her teeth.

Clothing was clumsily removed and carelessly discarded. She stroked him with her hand and saw that curl at the corner of his mouth and the second it faded as his fingers tangled in her hair and he pulled her down into a hungry kiss.

Having him inside of her was everything she needed at that moment, just the two of them, joined and absolute. Just movement and breathing. Warmth and life.

He came with one hand still tangled in her hair and the other pressed against her back. Leia moved down just enough to pull the blanket up over them, trapping the residual heat around them. She laid her head on his chest and took a long, deep breath before she closed her eyes.

Her commlink chirped. She reached for it, intending to turn it off, but the message ID caught her eye.

"That Luke?" Fett's eyes were closed, but he was clearly still conscious.

"No. Mon Mothma." She turned it off and laid it aside. "My nomination was approved. It'll be between me and Oktan in the general election."

"Oh."

"Last year he would have been easy to beat, but he's been busy." She drummed her fingertips on his chest and then laughed softly. "You know what would be really nice? If he would just decide that politics isn't for him. Maybe you could look into his affairs for me." She lifted her chin and brushed her lips against his throat. "Maybe a little pressure in the right place…"

He shifted beneath her. "No."

She raised her head, puzzled. "No?"

"No."

He was trying to shut her out of his mind, she could feel it, like someone attempting to slam a door with another person's foot in the way. When she spoke her voice was sharper than she intended. "What do you mean ' _no_?' " He gave her a wary look, and she smiled to lighten the mood. "I mean, it's not that you can't say 'no,' but you never have before. Can I ask why?"

"I don't want to."

"That's not an answer."

"Yes it is." His jaw was set, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. "You can beat him without my help."

Leia sat up as much as she could in the small space. "Or I could lose," she said, finally understanding. "Which is what you want."

He said nothing.

"Boba...You've been by my side every step of them way, and now, when I could be Chancellor, when I could have _real_ influence, _now_ you've got cold feet?"

His eyes returned to hers, and she didn't need the Force to know what her husband of fifteen years was thinking. He was tense and watchful, almost as if he was afraid-

No, it was worse than that.

He didn't trust her.

"I think," she said slowly and deliberately. "That you've been spending too much time with my _brother_."

* * *

He couldn't stop replaying it, over and over in his mind. The cloud of dust settling around them, and his sister standing there. The coldness around her. The darkness. The stone rose up on her command, and he could feel her power. Leia hated Joruus C'baoth. She saw his weakness and his madness and she killed him easily.

Her command of the Force was effortless. This was not the first time.

There was no doubt about it. He was unquestionably the worst Jedi since the dawn of the galaxy. How was he supposed to train the next generation when he couldn't see what was happening in his own family?

"Luke."

Luke blinked, his eyes drawn to the front viewfinder of Dyrk's ship as the stars shrunk into pinpricks. They were supposed to rendezvous on Concord Dawn. Five Mandalorian Protectors died in the Wayland invasion and Leia insisted on visiting each one of their families. But this wasn't Concord Dawn. This wasn't anywhere. "Why did you bring the ship out of hyperspace?"

"Because we're not going any further until you tell me what's wrong." Dyrk had one hand on the accelerator stick, staring Luke down.

"I'm just...tired."

"If that was true, you'd be asleep. What is it?"

"I'm…" Luke closed his eyes briefly. "I'm just beginning to realize that I have the ability to completely blind myself to something I don't want to see."

"Don't we all?"

"But I should be better than that."

Dyrk sighed. "I know you've heard me say it a hundred times, but you're too hard on yourself."

"I still have feelings for you."

The other man froze. "What?"

"Nothing's changed. I haven't changed, and you're with someone, but...if I'm going to face all the things I've been avoiding, I might as well start with that." Luke turned in his seat to face Dyrk. "I've never gotten over you, or what we had."

Dyrk opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He looked away and blinked a few times, quickly. There was a burst of static over the commlink.

" _Veet! Gar an staabi? Gar payt paru._ "

Dyrk reached for the receiver without looking at it. " _Ni' cuy jate. Slanar._ "

" _Ret'turcye_."

"I don't want to…" Luke gestured at the commlink. "You should go with them. This isn't your problem. I'm not your problem."

"Jedi…" Dyrk rubbed a hand over his face. "You've always been my problem." He leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers over his stomach. "You said that was _one_ of the things you've been avoiding."

Luke swallowed, because the words hurt to say. "It's Leia."

* * *

 **Mando'a Translations**

 _Veet! Gar an staabi? Gar payt paru._ \- Veet! You all right? You left formation.

 _Ni' cuy jate. Slanar._ \- I'm good. Go on.

 _Ret'turcye_ \- Good hunting


	12. Chapter 12

As soon as they landed on Concord Dawn, the entire party headed for a cantina in the sprawling Hibo market, a trading center in the plains. Luke excused himself, citing exhaustion, and Dyrk headed straight for the bar. He was tired too, but he didn't think he could sleep.

He knocked back two ales watching Senator Organa greet the friends and family members of the protectors who died during the Wayland mission. She was gracious and kind, and her daughter was never far from her side.

Finally it grew late enough that Fett took Shysa back to _Slave I_ to sleep. Jonah and Kyd stayed behind, enjoying the privilege of being treated like adults. They had a few drinks apiece, and then Jonah fell asleep stretched out on a bench. Kyd dozed off an hour later, sitting on the floor in front of the bench and using his brother's side as a pillow.

Meanwhile Dyrk was on his fourth ale, and no closer to rest.

He couldn't get Luke's drawn face out of his mind, or the empty ache in his voice. Leia didn't look any different to him, and she didn't act any different, but Luke was convinced that something had changed. And Dyrk had to admit that what happened on Mount Tantiss seemed out of character.

It wasn't that he minded to a good vengeance killing, but it was another thing to kill a foe that was already down. Throw them a blaster, give them a knife, let them take the first swing. Those were the conditions of settling a personal affair.

It made him think about the Grand Moff in the detention center, handcuffed to his chair. Unable to resist. Unable to fight back. Leia did _something_ to him.

His head ached, a precursor to what probably would be a nasty hangover in the morning.

"Dyrk! Good to see you're still alive."

He turned toward the familiar voice and opened his arms. "Aunt Lin! What are you doing so far from Keldabe?"

"Oh, checking out some trouble at the delivery station. I heard the Mandalore and the Senator were arriving and thought you might be here as well." His aunt was a tall, strong woman, much like her sister. She slapped him on the back and took the seat next to him. "You know your parents weren't happy about all of this running around and invading Imperial strongholds. I got the distinct impression they think it's time for you to hang up your blasters."

He snorted. "They just want more grandchildren. You'd think eight would be enough."

"You'd think." Lin was never one for Mandalorian tradition. She never married and she preferred her business to family affairs. "Tihaar," she told the bartender, barely turning her head. The bartender set down a small stone cup of clear liquid in front of her, and she lifted it. "You want one?"

"Sure." He pushed his ale glass away, and the bartender set an identical cup in front of him.

" _Oya_ ," Lin said, and he echoed the toast. The _tihaar_ burned down his throat. Oh yes. He was going to be _very_ sick tomorrow.

"So. The girl is safe, all is well?"

"She's safe. And the man who was behind the kidnapping is dead."

Across the room, Leia was in a small group of clan leaders, drinking and laughing. His aunt followed the direction of his gaze, but said nothing.

"Word from the core is that the senator has a fair shot at being the next Chancellor."

"Oh?"

"They youngest in a millennia, they say. Thought you'd be excited by that. You've always been a supporter."

"Yeah." Dyrk fiddled with his cup. "It's just...she's been through a lot. I'm not sure now is the right time."

Lin snorted. "Since when does this galaxy coddle anyone? Especially women."

His eyes returned to the senator, and she turned her head and looked back at him, as if she could sense his attention. Maybe she could.

Maybe she could sense more than that. There was a sudden lump in his throat that he couldn't quite swallow.

She smiled and gave a little wave, and Dyrk lifted a hand in return. He knew from his past experience with Luke that the harder he tried to hide his emotions, the clearer they would be to her. It was better to acknowledge his fear and above all, remain calm.

"You seem a little worn," His aunt noted. "Rough mission?"

"Yeah. You might say that." He nodded to the bartender and tapped his cup. "Another round. Oya." They toasted and drank again. "Some of it was pretty rough. And then on the way back, Luke, he...said some things."

"Who?"

"The senator's brother. The Jedi. We, uh, used to date."

Lin looked at him for a moment as if she was trying to remember, then shrugged. "Well, It's not like you ever brought him home to meet the family."

"I would have." Dyrk's hand tightened on his cup. "It was just always...complicated with Luke. I thought I was over it. We've been friends for years, and then the little idiot has to go and tell me he still 'has feelings for me.'"

"And suddenly you're not over it." Lin raised a knowing eyebrow. "So what then?"

"We got sidetracked. Never really talked it through."

"Sounds to me like you have unfinished business." She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I suppose you could always ask his sister for advice."

"Why would I-" He looked up and realized Leia was heading towards them. Calm, he reminded himself. Be calm.

"I'll leave you to it," his aunt said. "Stay alive, nephew."

"Stay alive."

The senator pulled up to the bar and leaned on it briefly. "Water," she said to the bartender. "I think I'd better have some water."

"Maybe something to eat too?" The bartender placed a basket of _uj_ cake on the bar, and Leia sighed. "Yes. Thank you." She took a slice and then nudged the basket towards Dyrk.

He took some, but he didn't eat it. He could tell by the feel of the cake that it was well past it's prime. Most bartenders kept a stash of something to sober up drunks who wouldn't know the difference.

Leia broke off a piece and popped it in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully for a few seconds. When she was finished she took a long sip of water. "I just wanted to say thank you, again. I know you and Luke are friends, but what you did was above and beyond the call of friendship. If there's ever anything I can do for you, or Boba can do for you...I hope you understand you have a blank marker with us."

"A blank marker," Dyrk was a little amused by the mercenary lingo. "That's very generous, but not necessary. When Mandalore calls, I answer."

"I know, which is why I want to ask you for one more favor."

The natural human impulse was to think of every possible thing she might ask, and he really didn't need the pesky emotions that might go with such speculation. "Right. Ask away."

"If I win the election and become Chancellor, Mandalore will need a new senate representative. I think it should be you."

There was no hiding his shock. "What?"

She laughed. "You've just got a really funny look on your face. What did you think I was going to ask?"

"I don't-" He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Look, Senator-"

"Leia," she corrected him. "Please."

"Leia. I'm flattered, but I'm no politician."

She waved a hand. "What is a politician? Ideally, it's someone who serves the people they represent. And I can't think of anyone who would serve Mandalorians more loyally or faithfully."

"But a senator? In the core with the...senate..."

"It's nothing you can't handle. I'll be there to help you." Her mouth tipped into a rueful smile. "The thing is, if I'm gone, the only person who can speak for the Mandalore system is Boba."

Dyrk laughed shortly and looked down at his empty stone cup.

"There's no election, no campaign to run. The _Mand'alor_ appoints a representative and that's that, unless the clan leaders have a problem with it."

"The _Mand'alor_ won't have a problem with it?"

Leia looked at him a little curiously, and then took a sip of her water. "It was his idea."

"It was?"

"I don't know what happened between the two of you all those years ago, but it was his suggestion and I thought it was a good one." Her smile faltered and became fixed. "It seems to be the only thing we can agree on right now."

Calm, Dyrk reminded himself. Calm. "You've had a bad couple of weeks."

"Yes, we have." She slowly inhaled and exhaled, her eyes dropping to the bar. "I'm sorry for...I've had too much to drink."

"Don't worry about it."

"Just promise me you'll think about it."

"I will."

"Good. And who knows? I could still lose the election." She looked up as if something had just occurred to her. "Are you going to see Luke again, before he heads back to the academy?"

"I think so. Yes."

"Will you give him a message for me? Just in case I don't see him?"

"Right. Of course."

"Thank you." She leaned closer and put her hand on his arm. Her smile was bright. "Please tell him that he will _deeply_ regret the day he turned my husband against me."

Dyrk froze. Her hand wasn't squeezing his arm, she was barely touching him. But somehow the contact ached like a bruise. "I-"

Leia laughed and removed her hand. "I really have had too much to drink. Please excuse me. Good night, Dyrk." And then she added, almost as an afterthought, "stay alive."

"'Night." It was hard to stay in his seat after she left. He wanted to bolt for the door immediately, but he counted slowly to fifty before he paid his tab and left the cantina.

Luke had rented a room at the inn next door. It was a small operation, there was no one to prevent him from going right up to his room. He started to press the buzzer, but decided to try the door first. It was unlocked.

Either Luke wasn't worried about security, or he was expecting company.

The room was dark. As his eyes adjusted, Dyrk could make out a shape beneath the blankets on the bed. "Luke."

The shape stirred. "Hey."

Dyrk set his helmet on a nearby table and removed his blasters and belt. He laid down on the bed beside Luke, on top of the blankets, with his hands folded over his stomach.

Luke turned toward him. He was shirtless, his hair mussed. "What's wrong?"

"I was just talking to your sister."

"Oh?"

"She seems a little upset with you."

"Oh," Luke said again, this time with understanding.

"What exactly did you say to Fett? After the rock thing."

"I didn't have to say much. He knows her."

"So let's say you're right, and she's 'fallen to the dark side.' What does that mean? She's possessed or something?"

"No…" Luke drew himself up on one arm. "The dark side...it's tricky. Leia probably believes she's in control of it. But you can't embrace darkness without becoming enslaved by it."

" _Osik_." Dyrk covered his face with his hands. "She thinks you poisoned Fett against her."

"That's...not a good sign."

"What are you going to do?"

"I can try to talking to her…not that she ever listens to me." He heaved a sigh. "I can call her to the light, but she has to choose it."

"And if she doesn't?"

"I don't know." Luke's voice was soft. "If she wins this election, she'll be one of the most powerful people in the galaxy. There's no telling what kind of damage she could do." His voice roughened. "And if Jonah-"

Dyrk reached over and grabbed his hand. Held it tightly. "Don't get lost in 'ifs.' One step at a time."

Luke squeezed back. "Yeah. Okay."

"She asked me to take over as the senate representative if she's elected. I think she trusts me."

"Dyrk, I can't ask you-"

"You're not. Because we're not having this conversation." He turned to his side to face Luke. "I'll do whatever I have to do to protect Mandalore. They have my loyalty." His hand cupped the other man's cheek, flushed and warm from sleep. "And you have my heart."

Luke inhaled sharply, his own hand coming to rest on Dyrk's cheek. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I'm with you, Jedi." He pressed his forehead against the other man's. "We'll ride this out together, yeah?"

"Yeah." Luke leaned in for a kiss, but stopped. "Did you actually break up with...uh…"

" _Haar'chak_. I knew I forgot something."

"Oh, well." Luke kissed him anyway, and the warmth of his mouth combined with the warmth of the alcohol in his blood made Dyrk's head spin.

"But you'll definitely do it first thing in the morning, right?"

Dyrk slung his arm around him. "I will definitely...once the the vomiting stops and I can hold my head up."


	13. Chapter 13

"It's not like we don't know that something's wrong."

The words were muttered, barely audible, but Fett didn't miss them.

"Stay focused," he told his son. "Eyes on the hotel."

Kyd exhaled and shifted a little, but he maintained his position at the window, looking down the scope of his rifle. "No sign yet."

"Soon," Jonah predicted. He stood just behind his brother, flat against the crumbling plaster wall. "He's hungry."

Fett stood opposite them in the narrow hallway of the old warehouse. "Does your uncle know you use your powers for mercenary work?"

"It's not exactly easy to turn off." Jonah's helmet was dangling from his right hand, and he let it swing gently back and forth. "The more I use it, the more it becomes part of me and part of everything I do."

"You don't need the Force to see that something's up with mom," Kyd offered, his eyes still on his scope.

"Your mother is running for the office of the High Chancellor. She's under a lot of stress."

"She eats stress for breakfast," Kyd scoffed.

"It's more than that." Jonah agreed. He turned his level gaze on his father. "She's unhappy. And she gets more unhappy every time she looks at you."

Kyd cast a look at his brother. "Maybe we shouldn't-"

Fett stared down his firstborn, his words slow and deliberate. "Something you want to ask me, Jonah?"

"That's him," Kyd hissed, jerking his head toward the window. "He just left the hotel."

"How many with him?" Fett asked without looking. Jonah stared back him, cool and defiant.

"Three. They're going next door."

"It's a diner," Jonah said with a little smugness in his voice. "Told you he's hungry."

"You asked to come along," Fett reminded him. "Either you put your personal matters aside or you stay here."

Jonah's eyes narrowed just slightly. Kyd touched his brother's arm. "It's a long flight home Jo," he said. "Plenty of time."

"Yeah," Jonah agreed. "Okay." He nodded to his father and lifted his helmet to his head. "Let's go."

* * *

Yul Kulug was a new quarry for Fett. He was a small-time arms dealer who had recently lucked into a large cache of blastzone detonators. Knowing how highly valued they were, he contacted the four largest crime syndicates and sold the entire lot of six thousand detonators...to all four of them.

Two of them realized this quickly. One of them hired Boba Fett.

Kulug might be small-time, but that didn't make him easy prey. No arms dealer made it to seventy without being a little paranoid. His companions were well-armed and alert, and it wasn't as if three men in Mandalorian armor could walk into a diner in Coruscant's undercity without raising alarm.

Fett had a plan for that. "Jonah," he said over his commlink. "The Dug at the counter. Go pick a fight with him."

Jonah didn't hesitate for a second. "Cheating scum!" He shouted, and rushed the counter. "Give me my money back!" The Dug ducked behind the counter with a sharp squeal and Jonah vaulted easily over it. Fett watched Kulug and his men as they checked out the scene, decided it was none of their business, and turned back to their food as Jonah grabbed a handful of utensils off the counter and threw them at the cowering Dug.

A Rodian in a chef's hat came out of the kitchen "Hey, hey, what's the problem?"

"This _di'kut_ gave me the wrong change!" Jonah pulled both of his blasters out in one smooth motion and aimed one at the dug and the the other at the Rodian. One of Kulug's guards started to turn.

"Kyd, watch my back," Fett instructed. His son lifted his rifle in unison with Fett's own and took up position behind him. Fett fired three quick shots. Killed the guard mid-turn and then blasted the other two before they could finish pulling their blasters out of their holsters.

But not Kulug. He was worth more alive.

"How's the room?" He asked Kyd.

"Calm." The other customers had apparently opted to stay out of it.

"Yul Kulug," Fett said. "Come with me."

The old man turned a sickly gray, but he didn't move. "Oh," he said.

"He has a gun under the table," Jonah reported over the commlink. "Little 004 Defender. He's trying to decide whether to use it on you or himself."

"They want you alive," Fett told Kulug. "You'll have a chance to explain yourself."

Kulug's mouth twisted into a bitter smile. "You're funny, for an executioner."

"I'm not an assassin. They want what you promised them. That gives you leverage if you use it correctly."

"I can get more detonators," he said, his voice a little higher. "Tell them that. Tell them I'll give them a discount. Tell them I'll bring them myself."

"I'm also not a messenger service."

The door chime sounded as two customers walked in and then quickly backed out. It was only a matter of time before the authorities arrived.

"You will get up," Jonah said to the arms dealer. "And lay your weapon on the table."

The man blinked at Jonah.

"You will get up," Jonah repeated. "And lay your weapon on the table."

"I will-" The man rose. He seemed to be baffled by his own cooperation. "I'll get up. And I'll lay my weapon on the table." His hand was shaking as he dropped the small blaster in the middle of his scrambled Minisk roe. "How-"

"Enough talking," Fett commanded. "Let's go."

* * *

He gave Kyd the job of preparing _Slave I_ for lift-off. Jonah helped him secure Kulug in a cell and watched silently as he put the stasis walls in blackout mode. Once their prisoner could neither see them or hear them, Fett removed his helmet. "Don't ever do that again."

Jonah removed his own helmet, smoothing a hand over his hair. "It worked."

"Look at me." He took a step closer to his son. "It was unnecessary. And there were witnesses."

"You were going to create a diversion and then stun him. It probably would have worked. But my way was faster."

"Faster isn't always better." Fett turned toward the ladder that led up to the cockpit. "Go fast enough, and you lose control."

"I _know_ ," his son grumbled as he followed. "Look, can't you just trust me, for once?"

He jerked back around, his voice sharp. "Can I trust you? Can you control that part of yourself? Or is it in control of you?"

In an instant, Jonah's expression changed from stubborn to wide-eyed. He actually flinched. "You're _afraid_."

"Stop that," Fett said through his teeth. He didn't need another person grasping and twisting his mind.

His son made a helpless gesture. "I can't. You're-"

" _Find a way_."

He hadn't realized how loudly he was speaking until he was done, and the silence hung cold and brittle between them.

Jonah blinked rapidly, and his jaw worked. "Yes sir."

He turned away, refusing to even acknowledge the shame that coiled in his stomach. His hands found their place on the ladder and his feet followed. He'd been climbing this ladder since he could walk. When Jonah was two, he'd stood at the bottom and held his hands behind him as he climbed. And then it was Kyd's turn.

And Leia was behind him, her fingertips pressed against her lips to hold back any sharp noises of worry. She trusted him to catch the boys if they fell, but that didn't mean she was going to take her eyes off them for a second.

Kyd was in the co-pilot's seat. "We're ready to set course."

"Good." Fett dropped into the pilot's seat. "Sequence six-dash-eight from the nav computer. Check it against the asteroid charts from the Nortuk system."

"Yes sir." Kyd's hands moved quickly over the controls. "Are you going to talk to us about mom now?"

"No," said Jonah from behind them as he entered the cockpit. "He's not."


	14. Chapter 14

"There you are." Mon Mothma was carrying a bottle of sparkling wine and two glasses. Her heavy skirts rustled as she sat on the floor beside the plate window. "I hope I'm not intruding."

"Of course not." Leia was already sitting on the floor, right up against the glass. Shysa was on her lap, watching the fireworks over the government sector. "I just needed...a moment."

Her hiding place was a balcony that ran around the top of the dome at Coruscant's grand hall, high above the noise and revelry of the party below.

"I think that's understandable," her friend said as she filled the glasses. "Shysa, you must be getting tired."

"Nope." She eyed the fizzy liquid in the cups. "Can I have some of that?"

"Maybe one sip?" Mon Mothma suggested, and Leia held up a finger.

"One."

Shysa wrapped both hands around the glass and took full advantage of the privilege.

"I remember Bail giving you your first sip at the Life Day Ball when you were about that age," Mon Mothma recalled. "You made such a face…"

Leia put her hand at the base of the glass and pulled it away from her daughter. "I remember that too."

Mon took a sip of her wine and appeared to be lost in the past for a moment. When she returned, there was a waver in her voice. "Leia, they would have been _so_ proud of you."

Leia looked out the window again, blinking back sudden, sharp tears. She knew her friend meant well, but weight of this moment made her thoughts grave and the shadows around them even more haunting. She couldn't banish the thought that Mon Mothma was one of many politicians who failed to stop the Emperor. Who stood silent for the sake of civility and in doing so, signed the death warrant of everyone on Alderaan.

It wasn't that she held it against them. Many of them went on to form the rebellion, and they were her heroes, her mentors and friends. But at the end of the day, they were permitted to go on living, and her parents were not.

It was one of the things that always drove her to climb higher and to push harder. Leia knew the dark secrets of this galaxy. When others paused to ask 'how can such a thing happen?' she heard the answer that beat in the heart of every sentient being. It has happened before, and it will happen again if you let it.

Shysa stirred restlessly on her lap. "How much longer do we have to stay here?"

"I have to stay," Leia told her. "But Threepio can take you back whenever you're ready."

Her daughter shook her head, her dark curls swishing around her face. "I want to stay with you."

"Do you understand what this all means?" Mon Mothma asked her. "What this party is for?"

"Mom won the election. She's going to be the chancellor," Shysa replied thoughtfully. "Which is sort of like being the _mand'alor_ , but not as good."

The current chancellor laughed, and Leia shared a bemused look with her.

"I had hoped," Mon Mothma said, a little carefully. "That Boba would make an appearance."

Leia was careful too. She hadn't expected him to come, and yet his absence rubbed like a blister. "He had some business in the Outer Rim that took longer than expected. The boys are on their way back and will be here tomorrow. Or...later today, I guess."

"I'm glad to hear it." Her friend paused to take a sip of wine. "I was speaking with Senator Vessik earlier and he told me you have some very interesting ideas about reclassifying the Jedi Order?"

"It's nothing worth making public yet, just a few thoughts I have to promote greater accountability and oversight."

"But making the Jedi records accessible to the Senate? Is that wise considering what happened during the purge?"

"The Jedi were betrayed by one of their own," Leia reminded her. "By my father."

Mon Mothma gave Shysa a concerned glance, but Leia shook her head.

"She knows."

"Jonah and Kyd showed me pictures," Shysa volunteered. "He did a lot of bad things."

"Yes," Mon affirmed. "He did."

"Daddy said he force-choked him once for being an hour late."

"Oh. My."

"I don't think I've heard that story," Leia mused, stroking her daughter's hair. "That must have been terrifying for him." It was with a certain amount of reluctance that she turned her attention from the image of her stubborn, arrogant spouse struggling to breathe and continued. "Considering Luke and Jonah's involvement, I just want to make sure there's a clear separation between my administration and the order."

"That's very prudent, but your brother is the only real representative. He should at least have a seat on the committee."

Leia shrugged. "I'll ask him, but Luke stays very busy with his students."

She had no intention of asking him. He'd tried to contact her a number of times since Wayland, first by commlink and then by the Force and she'd blocked both. As a matter of fact he was here tonight, but so far she'd managed to avoid him.

She knew what he was going to say and it galled her that he thought she needed saving. She was a galactic senator when he was still shooting womp rats in desert canyons, but he thought she should sit at his feet and lift rocks in a swamp like one of his young students.

She was beyond that. Beyond his simplistic understanding. The Force was with her, and her powers were growing every day.

Perhaps in time they could repair their relationship, but first Luke would have to accept that he, not her, was the one who needed to learn.


	15. Chapter 15

"You're a busy man these days." Luke stayed in the shadows of the spaceport hangar, waiting as Fett slowly approached him.

"I'm always busy."

"You haven't been to the core in nearly two months. Not since Jonah and Kyd returned to the academy."

"I'm not welcome."

"Did Leia tell you that?"

"My ship has been flagged at all the major ports. Can't land or depart without getting searched."

"Oh." Luke had to respect the ingenuity of his sister's wrath. "So she's not speaking to you either."

"Her assistant sends me messages." A pause. "You went to the...ceremony...thing."

 _You should have been there_ was on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't say it. "Dyrk filled in for you."

"I know."

"Leia didn't want any questions or speculation from the press. The kids knew, of course, but they went along with it."

"They like him."

"I'm really worried about her."

He could feel his brother-in-law's exasperated stare through his helmet's visor. "And?"

Luke sighed and tucked his hands in the sleeves of his robe. "Just tell me you haven't given up."

"If she doesn't want to see me-"

"She loves you. She loves your children. That part of her that still belongs to the light. If you run away now, the darkness-"

Fett took a menacing step forward and cut him off with a snarl. "Let's get one thing straight, _Skywalker_ , I'm not part of any Jedi crusade. I don't give a fuck about the light and the dark. This is about my _family_."

"I know." Luke held his ground. "Boba, It's my family too."

The bounty hunter stepped back, a retreat that took Luke by surprise. He touched his right hand to his helmet, a gesture that would have made more sense if his face was visible. "Shysa's with me. You can see her if you can keep your godsdamn mouth shut."

Luke swallowed and nodded. "Thanks. I'd like that."

* * *

Dyrk had been to Coruscant many times in his life, but he'd never spent much time in the government sector, and he'd never before had a reason to visit the Executive Building. He thought his armor might cause a problem during the security check-in, but the officers were polite and well-briefed on other cultures.

At their request, he remove his helmet while two droids scanned him for hidden weapons. Next they checked his clearances against his facial and biometric ID. After no more than ten minutes of careful scrutiny, he was on his way with an authorization chip and a cheerful "have a pleasant day, Senator."

He was still getting used to the title.

A lift took him up to Alpha Level One, or A1 as the security staff referred to it. When the doors opened he was greeted by an officer at a desk, with silver hair and a matching goatee. He scanned the authorization chip, and then scanned the badge fastened to his chest and entered a nine-digit code.

This gave Dyrk entry to a corridor with a high, vaulted ceiling and decorative arches. At the end of the corridor was a circular desk with a young woman at the center of it. Her hands moved quickly over the controls as she jumped from one communication to the next, responding to various chimes and beeps with astonishing efficiency.

Dyrk walked slowly towards the desk, his helmet still tucked under his arm. He almost hated to interrupt her. "Dyrk Veet. Here to see the chancellor," he said when she looked pointedly at him.

One crisp nod, and a quick glance at his armor. "Chancellor, the Senate Representative for Mandalore is here."

"Yes, send him in please."

The young woman stood and hurried over to the tall double doors that led to the chancellor's suite. She scanned the bracelet on her wrist and then pressed her palm into the reader. The doors parted. "Please, go in," she said.

"Thank you." Dyrk walked past her. The room was divided into an upper section with a broad desk and a lower section with a sitting area. Leia was sitting on one of the couches in the lower section. She looked tired, but pleased to see him nonetheless.

"Dyrk. Please sit."

"You changed your hair," he noted as he sat and laid his helmet aside. "I like it."

Her hair, always long and bound, had been cut short in a style reminiscent of her predecessor. Leia touched the short strands at the nape of her neck and smiled wryly. "I'm still getting used to it. But it does save me a tremendous amount of time in the morning."

"Always a plus."

"So...you had your first official session in the Senate. What did you think?"

"It was...interesting. I read that datafile on the rules twice, and I'm still afraid I'll mess something up."

"You wouldn't be the first." She braced her elbow on the couch arm and propped her head against her hand. "My cousin Pooja entered the Senate four years before I did, and at her second session she tried to interrupt a vote with Rule 80, only she said 83."

Dyrk desperately hoped this wasn't a test. "I don't-"

"It doesn't come up much. 83 is a toxic hazard in the Senate chambers."

" _Osik_."

"Yes. It took her a long time to live that one down." Leia shook her head. "How are things at home?"

"You're missed."

She looked down, fussing with her skirt. "I miss them too. I miss a lot of things. Every movement I make is so constrained here, I-" She dropped her hands to her lap, her fingers woven tightly together. "At least I know they're in good hands."

"Fumbling, inexperienced hands," Dyrk said, trying to lighten the mood. "Goran Beviin was by the central office the other day and without thinking I blurted out ' _haar'chak_ , why aren't you doing this job?' And he just looked at me for a second and then said 'I can't do her husband's job and hers.'"

Leia laughed. "Poor Goran."

"Yeah." Dyrk leaned back and stretched out his legs a little. "Poor Goran. Compared to him I'm in pretty good shape, but there are things from time to time...I just don't know what the situation is. Like last week, a farmer from Concord Dawn by the name of E'sin Komk comes by, looking for you."

Her expression was blank. Clearly the name didn't ring a bell.

"He asks me if you want to use his husk field again for strill training, and I'm thinking to myself 'what strills?' but I didn't want him to think I wasn't in the know, so I told him I'd ask you."

"Oh." Leia's mouth lingered in the shape of an 'o' for a few seconds. "I might have told him a little lie…You know how tall the husks get, and the way the fields are like mazes? It was sort of a version of radar tag...but not for kids. It was for Boba's birthday."

" _Right_." Dyrk said with exaggerated emphasis. " Well, I guess it's better I didn't know."

She pressed her lips together, a little color in her cheeks. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put you in an awkward position."

He waved a hand dismissively. "You've been together for what, sixteen years? Good for you."

The atmosphere in the room shifted slightly. "Have you talked to Boba lately?"

"No. Talked to your brother a few times." This was where it became vitally important for him to stay calm and relaxed. Let his emotions float by like soft, untroubled clouds. "He'd really like to see you."

"I'm sure he would." There was a distinct chill in her voice. "Does he talk to Boba?"

"I don't know."

She relaxed just a little bit. "Thank you for your honesty, Dyrk. And your willingness to serve. If all goes according to plan, Mandalorians are about become very important in this galaxy."

"We are?"

"Oh yes. There are a number of systems in the Outer Rim at various stages of unrest, and I'm currently working on a proposal to send Mandalorian strike teams into those systems." She leaned back in her seat and tucked her feet up on the couch. "If they succeed in restoring peace, they could set up a provisional government and gain new resources. It would be an opportunity for Mandalorians to expand."

Dyrk started to say something, and then stopped and had to start again. "With all due respect, Chancellor, the last time we 'expanded' we wiped out an entire species, and every Mando kid gets told that story as a warning. Our conquering days are over. Mandalorians today just want to live as they please."

Leia tilted her head to one side. "Perhaps. But perhaps there are some who would be interested in new opportunities. I would like for you to start talking to clan leaders about it. Gauge their interest. Gather their questions."

When he said nothing in response, she leaned forward. "Your job is represent the people of of the Mandalore system and that means you need to figure out what _they_ want. You can't decide that for them."

She was right. He knew that in his head, but he didn't like it. "I'll talk to them."

"Thank you." She leaned back again and smiled at him. "It really has been wonderful to see you, but I should get back to work. I'm hoping to make it out to Keldabe in a few weeks and we'll have a drink and discuss it further."

He stood and picked up his helmet. "Of course, Chancellor. As you wish."

"Dyrk." She tilted her head to one side, her eyes intent on his face. "You're not thinking of quitting on me, are you?"

"No…I just wonder if I'm the right man for the job."

"I think you'll surprise yourself." She picked up her datapad. " _Ret'urcye_."

* * *

Slave I was docked in one of the back bays, out of sight to anyone passing by. Luke was following Fett toward the ship when the bounty hunter stopped so abruptly Luke almost ran into him. He could feel the tension that suddenly filled the air around them.

"What-"

"We've got company," Fett announced. He continued toward the ship, his stride just slightly quicker.

Shysa was sitting on a crate in the cargo bay, waiting for them. On either side, with their arms crossed and their feet planted, stood Jonah and Kyd. Luke had said goodbye to them three days ago on Yavin. His nephews had smiled and promised to keep an eye on things while he was gone.

Sneaky little _kriffers_.

"What is this?" Fett demanded.

" _This_ ," Jonah said with the same flat inflection as his father, "is a family meeting."


	16. Chapter 16

Lib Artu'a was a Zeltron of indeterminate age or gender, a striking figure with purple skin and red hair, who had worked closely with Mon Mothma as an advisor for many years. Fett had met Lib only once years before, so it really was a credit to the Zeltron's incredible memory that Lib recognized him immediately. "Boba Fett! As I live and breathe. Are you going up to A1? I have some datacards to take up, I'll go with you. No, it's all right," Lib admonished the security guard who moved to stop them. "You don't have to scan him in. Don't you know who this is?"

Clearly the guard did not, but he was not about to embarrass himself by asking. Lib was one of those beings who seemed to know everyone and their life story, so if Lib vouched for the man wearing combat armor and a helmet, that was good enough for them.

"I was on sabbatical during the transition," Lib explained as they walked to the lift. "I just couldn't handle the stress of everything changing and new people coming in. I told Mon...you know I love you, but I've got to go and get a three-month massage."

He heard about the massage in detail on the way up to A1 followed by a surprisingly seamless transition from vigorous kneading into progressive tax policy.

When the door opened, Fett hit the button to send the lift back down to the main floor and stepped out before it shut. "Oh, wait, I'm-" The door closed on the Zeltron's questioning face.

Fett turned around. Four armed guards stood at attention, and the silver-haired man behind the desk rose to his feet.

"I'm sorry, sir, you are not authorized to be on this level."

"Do you know who I am?"

"I do. And the chancellor has given strict orders that you are to be escorted from the building at once."

The guards stepped forward. So much for that trick.

"Only four men?" Fett asked. "I don't think you _really_ know who I am."

From the console within his helmet he triggered the release of a compound mixture that erupted from his arm guards in two puffs of smoke. The two guards standing closest staggered back, coughing and retching, while the other two struggled to cover their noses and mouths. Fett kicked the closest guard back into his compatriot, and then ducked as one of the other guards pulled his blaster and fired wildly.

Stun blasts. His wife might not want to see him, but apparently she didn't want him dead. Good to know. He fired a saber dart filled with enough sedative to down a wookiee from his left gauntlet and struck the man in the thigh. He collapsed.

Fett lifted his right arm and fired his fibrecord whip, snaking it around the throat of the silver-haired officer and dragging the man to his knees as he clawed desperately at it. He released the cord and bent to grab the man's sidearm out of the holster, straightening just in time to fire at the last guard, who fired at him at the same time.

The stun bolt hit him in the chest, and the impact stung like hell, but his armor had taken worse. His own shot was not a stun bolt. It hit the guard in the shoulder, and he grasped his arm in reflexive agony. Fett grabbed him by the collar and bounced his head off his helmet. He caught the blaster before it hit the floor.

Two of the guards were now fully unconscious. The guards incapacitated by the compound were awake, but retching uselessly on the floor. The officer was thrashing around, trying to free himself of the fibrecord.

Fett stepped over one of the gagging men and aimed the stun blaster at the officer's head. The man stilled, his eyes fixed on the barrel. "Now you know who I am," he said, and fired.

He tucked the blasters into the his belt and pulled the badge off the officer's coat. The scanner on the door accepted it with cheerful beep and prompted him to enter the code that Dyrk had helpfully provided.

Just as Dyrk had described, this gave him entry into a long corridor, but he only caught a glimpse of the reception area outside Leia's office before guards flooded the opposite end. Fifteen to eighteen armed troopers. Two even carried vibro-pikes.

Back to work.

Fett flattened himself against the wall, taking cover behind a decorative arch as the first line opened fire. He pulled a flash-bang grenade from one of his pockets and ricocheted it off the wall in front of him. As the noise echoed through the chamber he swung around the arch and fired. He didn't have the luxury of playing defense for long. There would be reinforcements coming up the lift and he would soon be trapped between them.

He grabbed the nearest soldier, still doubled-over from the shock of the grenade and yanked him up to use as a shield. He fired four stun bolts and four men fell, but now the pikesmen were rushing forward. Fett dodged the long swing of the crackling weapon and shot the man in the knee with a live bolt. The second man was downed with an electro-dart that short-circuited his weapon and sent the owner into spasms.

A stun bolt glanced off his helmet, and the impact knocked him back. Four troopers quickly surrounded him, grabbing his arms and wresting the blasters from his hands. They pushed him into the wall.

"By order of the-"

He activated the last compound, which released from his backplate where his jetpack usually rested. The men started gagging and he got one arm free. An elbow to the face, a fist to the stomach and he was moving again. The grenade was already in his hand as a half-dozen guards charged toward him.

He threw it up into an elaborate chandelier that adorned the ceiling of the reception chamber, just above the guards. No fancy non-lethal tricks this time, just good old fashioned ordinance. There was an explosion and then chaos as the fixture fell, bringing down a good portion of the ceiling with it.

He retrieved a blaster from one of the fallen guards and stunned the remaining troopers. The building's emergency lights were flashing red now, and there was only one person besides Fett left standing.

A terrified young woman in office attire, huddled against the wall, a commlink in her white-knuckled grip. "Code eight-thirteen. Eight-thirteen. Backup-"

Fett raised his blaster, but the door to the chancellor's office suddenly opened.

"Genei, cancel the code."

The young woman kept her eyes on Fett. "B-but Chancellor-"

"At once, please."

"Cancel. Cancel the eight-thirteen, override by line one." She jumped out of Fett's way as he strode past her into the office. The door shut behind him.

It was more or less what he expected. Lavish and sleek, with a broad desk on a raised platform and a sitting area below it. Leia was seated at the desk, making notes on a datapad while several holo-displays surrounded her with data models or silent recordings.

He'd seen press holos of her new hairstyle, but seeing it in person was somehow different. He liked it, he decided. It was spiky and fierce. It suited her.

He removed his helmet and moved up the shallow steps toward her desk. Two of the holos playing were security feeds from outside her office. Medics were helping the men in the corridor, and maintenance droids had started gathering rubble in the reception area.

"Well," she said, without looking up, "You destroyed a millennia-old chandelier, probably did a million credits worth of damage to the building and took out half my security force. What do you want, Boba?"

Adrenaline was still pumping through his veins, making his voice hoarse. "You."

"That's a lot of trouble for a conversation."

"I don't want to talk."

Leia slowly raised her head and stared at him for a few long seconds. "You can't be serious."

He laid his helmet on the desk and leaned over it, bracing his gloved hands on either side. His head jerked toward the security feed. "Watch it again."

His wife laid her stylus carefully down beside the datapad. She pushed them both away from her and brought her hands together, her fingers laced tight. "You understand that I am very, _very_ angry at you, right?"

"I think you've made that clear."

So...given _that_ ...it really doesn't seem like a good idea."

"When has that ever stopped us?"

Leia tilted her head to one side and raised her eyebrows in a gesture of wry acknowledgement. Her eyes strayed back to the security feed for a second and then with a flick of her fingers, she turned it off. She touched the comm center on the right side of the desk. "Genei, I'm taking a break. Do not, under any circumstances, disturb me. I'll let you know when normal protocol resumes."

"Yes, Chancellor."

She released the button and studied him for a moment longer. Then she stood and came around to the front of desk. "You have no idea how badly I need this."

He swiftly closed the distance between them and cupped her face in his hands. There was teeth in her kiss, but that felt right. He leaned into the bite, his fingers digging into her short hair, dragging her head back. Her hands pulled impatiently at his breastplate, and he quickly removed it.

She worked his flightsuit open at the collar and pressed a wet kiss into his throat, just above his hammering pulse. The rest of his armor was discarded, along with his belt and gauntlets. Her breath was hot and quick on his skin as she opened the suit to the waist and pushed it off his shoulders.

Leia stepped forward, backing him into the edge of the desk as her hands slipped beneath his undershirt, warm and caressing. "Oh yes," she murmured as one hand drifted south. "This is exactly what I need." A growl caught in his throat as he pulled her to him.

She lifted a hand and everything on her desk was swept off. All of her comm devices and data readers clattered to the floor, accompanied by his helmet and a shower of flimsy. Fett knew exactly what she wanted. She was writing it into the edges of his mind, like a finger tracing letters on his skin.

He released her, and she took a step back. Her lips were parted and there was hunger in her eyes as he lifted himself up on the edge and laid back on the desk of the High Chancellor of the Republic. The surface was hard and cold, and his hands were shaking a little as he worked open the fly of his pants and pushed his shorts down.

There was something unnerving about being flat on his back and exposed when Leia wasn't even in his line of sight, but he wasn't about to let his discomfort show. He tucked his hands behind his head and fixed his gaze on the ceiling as if the tiling pattern was the only focus of his thoughts.

Thankfully, she didn't leave him there for long. She climbed up on the desk with him, all of her clothing removed except for a white and gold patterned tunic that hung open in the front. He caught a tantalizing glimpse of her breasts before she straddled his hips and leaned over him.

He arched up to kiss her, and she allowed it for a few seconds before she put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him down against the desk.

Right. Message received.

They had often played at the rougher side of sex, but this felt different. It reminded him of the first time they fucked. He had all the power then, or at least he thought he did.

She wrapped sure fingers around him, and his thoughts turned to static. His hands went to her thighs, his fingers digging into her soft skin as she mounted him and slowly sank down. Oh _fuck_ , how long had it been? Years, according to his body. Decades. Eons. His hips jerked up, and her head fell back as a shudder ran through her. "Oh gods…" she moaned. "Do that again."

He braced his boots against the edge of the desk and obeyed.

"Yes." She gripped him tight with her thighs, riding him with merciless rhythm. "Keep doing that...gods...Boba…" Her nails dragged over his chest, scratching his stomach a little where his undershirt was pushed up.

He couldn't count the number of times he'd watched her get off like this, but usually it was slow and teasing. Now her fingers were relentless, almost frantically seeking release. She urged him to fuck her harder in between gasping breaths until at last she broke, and came with a ragged cry.

She curled forward and rested her head on his shoulder and he held her there, stroking her trembling back through the thin fabric of her tunic. After a moment Leia drew in a long, slow breath and flexed her hips. "You didn't come."

"I didn't come _yet_ ," he said pointedly, and she laughed. She lifted herself up a little, bracing her palms flat on the desk. "You have to be close," she murmured, moving slowly and deliberately. "Is there something I can do? Or say?"

He shook his head.

She leaned over and nipped at his jaw. "What if we had another baby?"

"Leia."

"Shh. Don't react. Just think about it," she said, and the images were instantly pouring through his mind. Leia, round and flushed, her breasts full of milk and her eyes bright. Soft and clumsy in those final months, balancing awkwardly on her hands and knees so he could enter her from behind.

"What if you knocked me up right now?" She rocked against him, squeezing him tight, her voice soft and urgent. "Come for me."

" _Fierfek_." He thumped his head against the desk in a desperate attempt to escape the fantasy that she spun around him. The images kept changing, slipping out of their restraints. Leia, curled up beside him in their bed with her belly pressed against his side. Leia, humming to herself and swaying a little with her hands on her lower back, telling him not to worry, telling him that everything was going to be fine. Telling him that he was safe. Telling him that he was home.

No. Not this. Not now. A few more rough, uneven thrusts, and he found temporary relief in the roar of white noise in his ears as he came.

"Oh. _Oh_." Her breathless voice sounded far away. He had to drag some air back into his lungs before he could open his eyes and see more than a fuzzy outline.

Her tunic had slipped off one shoulder and she looked very pleased with herself. "I guess I wasn't the only one who needed this." She sighed and laid down on his chest, her head tucked beneath his chin. "Good to know some things are still the same."

He rubbed his palms lightly over her thighs, her skin so soft and silky next to the rough fabric of his flightsuit. "Not...exactly the same."

She lifted her head to look at him, her tone teasing. "Is it my hair?"

He ran a gloved hand over the the short strands before letting it rest on the curve at the back of her neck. "No," he said. "It's not your hair."

And then he jabbed her in the neck with a pressure-trigger syringe that he'd hidden between his fingers after slipping it out of a pocket in his suit.

Her eyes widened, but there was no time for her to react. She collapsed on his chest and he held her, waiting for the slow relaxing of her muscles as she succumbed fully to the serum.

Finally he exhaled, long and slow. "I'd like to think there was a time when you would have seen that coming."


	17. Chapter 17

When Leia woke up, the first thing she noticed was the roar of the ocean, distant, but still distinct. There was a roof over her, a rough kind of thatching that matched the gray plaster walls. She sat up, and the bed was she was laying on shifted and creaked. It was a small house with small windows. The front door had been left open.

She inhaled, catching the salty tinge in the air as she reached out through the force, searching. Wherever she was, it was very remote. Aside from the smaller life forms that were probably creatures and fish, she could only sense one other person.

A very familiar person.

Her shoes were beside the bed, and there was a glass of water on the table. How thoughtful of her husband to make sure she was comfortable after he _kriffing_ drugged her.

She walked out the front door into the cool evening air. The sun had set, and light was slowly fading from the sky. The house was set on the top of a rocky hillside, and out beyond the rocks was a sea. An island? She couldn't see all of it, but that would match the landscape.

Fett was sitting on a large flat rock beside a fire pit, his eyes on the flames. No armor. No visible weapons.

Leia wondered if she could use the force to pick him up and hurl him into the ocean. She listened to the waves breaking against the rocks for a few seconds. Maybe she should find out exactly where she was first.

Moving slowly over the uneven terrain, she joined him beside the fire. He didn't look up, but she could see the tension in his shoulders. "Really?" She said tartly. " _Really?_ "

He picked up a stick that was sitting beside him and poked at the fire.

Leia sat down gracefully on broad piece of driftwood and folded her hands in her lap. "Let me explain something to you, Boba. You just kidnapped. The chancellor. Of the republic."

"It's not the first time a chancellor has been kidnapped. It's not even the first time in my lifetime." He looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Some might consider it an occupational hazard."

"This isn't _funny_ ," she said severely. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?"

He shrugged.

"It's not like you to pin everything on some grand romantic gesture, and especially not something as foolish as kidnapping."

He poked at the fire some more. "I did consider it once. After we left Jabba's palace. I could taken you with me when I left Mos Espa, but I didn't."

"Probably because you were smart enough to realize that _I would have killed you_."

One corner of his mouth lifted. "There was a general lack of incentive. If I could have looked into the future and seen how the war ended, I might have decided differently. I could have sold you back to the rebels for a good price, but it wasn't worth risking Vader's anger."

She leaned forward, her voice soft and heavy with meaning. "And what about _my_ anger? Do you think there's anything that he could have done to you that I can't do?"

He held her gaze, his expression wary. "I've never let fear stop me from doing my job."

"Job?" She repeated, and then it all fell into place. "Oh. Of course. You didn't come up with this. This was Luke's idea."

"No."

"No?" A darker, colder possibility reared its head. "Is this a _paying_ job? Some attempt by one of my enemies to embarrass me and torpedo my administration?"

"No."

"Well, I know you're not going to kill me."

He tilted his head to one side, curious. "Do you think I could?"

"Maybe. You've had a lot more time to prepare for this than I have. But even if you could, you wouldn't. You love me. And you don't let go easily."

He gave a half-smile, half-grimace and poked at the fire again, sending a shower of sparks upward.

"Who, then?" She asked.

"Our children."

"Our-" She stared at him, anger swiftly rising up inside her. "What did you tell them?" Her hands clenched into fists. "Sorry kids, mommy's gone over the dark side? Mommy's evil now? Is that why they don't want to come to Coruscant?"

"I haven't said anything to them. I don't know what they've put together for themselves." He dropped the stick and brushed the dirt off his hands. "They know you're miserable. That's why they don't want to go to Coruscant."

"I am not-"

"A few weeks ago they came to me. They had a plan. All of this-" he waved a hand at their surroundings, "-was their idea."

It actually made sense. This was child's plot. Force mommy and daddy to spend time together until they made up. "Oh gods," she said with exasperation. "Those arrogant little monsters." She shook her head and then pressed her lips together in contemplation. "But that makes you the bait. Somehow I doubt _that_ was their suggestion."

"I never let my clients dictate the method."

"The method," she repeated. "Seven hells, you are _such_ an asshole."

"I had to keep you distracted."

And he had, by giving her exactly what she wanted. It was just like one of his birthday games, only this time he was the one spinning fantasy into reality. She should have seen it. "You were never good at hiding things from me before."

"I was never trying."

It was getting darker. She could barely see the delineation between the ocean and sky. "So where are we?"

"I could tell you, but the name wouldn't help you. Kyd found it. He remembered you saying something about being near the sea during our honeymoon."

"Oh, for the Force's sake."

He nodded in agreement.

"How did we get here?"

"One way transport pod."

"Which is where?"

He pointed towards the water.

"Of course. And what about your armor?"

"Didn't bring it." He exhaled and looked up at the night sky. "If you're hunting for communication devices, there are none."

"That's a load of _osik_. You would never plan something like this and leave yourself with no way out."

"I didn't plan this part of it."

So. He had no commlink. No transport. It might feel good to throw him in the ocean, but it wouldn't get her off this rock any faster. A pair of Mungbats flew overhead, and Leia tilted her head back to watch them. "Did they tell you how long we would be here?"

"We have about two weeks worth of food and water. Any longer and we'll have to start fishing."

"Two _weeks_?" She stared at him, horrified.

He shrugged again.

"I don't _kriffing_ believe this." Leia buried her face in her hands. "What if the Republic falls in two weeks?"

"Luke said he'd take care of it."

* * *

They were walking so fast they were nearly running, their footsteps echoing loudly through the hall.

"You sure this is going to work?" Dyrk asked.

"Maybe," Luke answered, a little breathlessly. The door in front of him opened.

Inside was a very hastily assembled meeting of Leia's cabinet, and Mon Mothma, who looked more frazzled than Luke had ever seen her. She was listening intently to Genei Betterund, Leia's assistant.

"And then I heard some...noises."

"Noises?"

Genei flushed. "Like maybe they were...having sex?" She lifted her hands, palm up. "She told me not to disturb her. She was _very_ clear about it. But an hour passed, and then two. I rescheduled all of her appointments, and then it was the end of the day and I didn't know what to do. I stayed another hour and then I thought maybe they snuck out the private entrance and went to a hotel or something, so I left."

"Is this...typical behavior?" This came from a slender man with gray hair and the robes of a treasury official. "The chancellor and her...husband?"

"No," Mon Mothma said immediately. "And I hesitate to even bring this up, but I really thought they might be separating."

"Oh gods," said a purple-skinned Zeltron leaning against the wall. "What if he killed her?"

"Lib, don't. Don't even say that."

Luke cleared his throat. "I think I can clear some things up, if I could-"

"Luke!" Mon Mothma was clearly relieved to see him. "Yes, please. This is Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight and the chancellor's brother."

"And Dyrk Veet," Luke added as the other man removed his helmet. "The Senate Representative to the Mandalore System."

"Yes, of course. Senator Veet, I'm so glad you could join us. This is Minister Everrods, from the treasury, General Hal'unka, Minister Ryllbers, from the advisory council, Vice Chair Ella Mallo, and Lib Artu'a, a colleague. I believe you know Genei."

"Yes." Luke stepped forward. Dyrk stayed beside the door. Watching his back. "First of all, I have to apologize. This confusion is entirely my fault, and it shouldn't held against Leia. She's fine, by the way. She sends her own apologies."

All eyes were on him. He reached out through the force and felt their skepticism, worry and outrage. He had to convince them. _A Jedi can feel the force flowing through him_...

"Yesterday, a critical matter was brought to my attention. I had to get a message to Leia and it had to be in person. It just happened that Boba was closest. Once he knew that Leia could be in danger he was determined to warn her at any cost." He paused and smiled wryly at Genei. "Their relationship has been strained lately, but they still share a strong bond."

"My gods," Mon Mothma said softly. "I'm so relieved- but what is this danger?"

"There has been a disturbance in the force." Luke tucked his hands into the sleeves of his robes. "It's possible that a new sith has risen."

He could feel fear, rising up like a tidal wave, and he concentrated on spreading calm and projecting confidence into the room. "My sister doesn't often speak about it, but she is also strong with the force. She never trained as a Jedi, but her potential is just as great, if not greater than my own. She's the only one that can help me deal with this threat." He bowed his head. "I know I'm asking for a lot, but I beg for your silence. If word got out, it could cause panic."

"It definitely would," Mon Mothma murmured, and Luke could feel the others shift towards her. She was the key here.

"Please believe me when I say that there is no other way," he said, meeting the former chancellor's eyes. _You love Leia like a daughter. Help me save her._

"Of course we'll help," she said. "I think it would be best to say it's a personal medical matter. Not life-threatening, but serious enough to warrant her absence."

"She is still a young woman," Ella Mallo offered. The Sullustan Vice Chair spoke with the help of a translation module. "Could we imply that it is a reproductive issue?"

"Don't tell them anything," Lib advised. "Let them speculate, and if they bring up the possibility of a pregnancy loss, come down hard on the fact that it's none of their business."

"It's a sensitive enough matter that it might discourage speculation," Mon Mothma agreed. "But Leia should be consulted."

"I'll talk to her," Luke promised.

"Keep her safe," Ella Mallo urged. "Leia is important to all of us. And if we can help in any other way-"

"Thank you." Luke bowed.

"Send word by Senator Veet." The Sullustan blinked her eyes, and it look Luke a moment to realize that the gesture was aimed at Dyrk. He turned around in time to see the Mandalorian give the Vice Chair a boyish grin in return.

"We should go." Luke turned and gave his boyfriend a stern look.

"That was something," Dyrk said as soon as they were back in the hall with the door shut behind them. "I could feel it - whatever you were doing in there. I would have sworn every word you said was the absolute truth."

"It was the truth," Luke replied before giving the other man a slightly sheepish smile. "From a certain point of view."


	18. Chapter 18

They sat for a long time by the fire and watched the wood slowly turn to ash. Leia didn't say much, but she didn't try to kill him either, so Fett was prepared to take that. The night air began to feel cold, so he went back to the house to get his jacket and a blanket for Leia.

"Thank you." She said as wrapped it around herself. "I don't suppose anyone thought to pack me some practical clothing for this little trip?"

"I think that was Shysa's job."

"Hm." That didn't seem to reassure her. "Boba?"

"Yes?"

"I think I understand why two teenagers and a six-year old would come up with a plan like this. But why did you go along with it?"

"You think I didn't try to talk them out of it?"

She cocked her head to one side. "You could have just said 'no.'"

"They made it a little harder than that." He folded his arms over his chest. "Jonah's exact words were 'either you go get her or we will.'"

"So you gave in to a threat. Issued by your own children."

"See what happens when you're not around?"

There was a moment where she almost smiled. "But you still agreed," she said, refusing to be distracted. "Threats and manipulations aside, you agreed to kidnap me and bring me out to a deserted island with no communications and no transport and no idea of how long we were going to be here."

" _My_ plan was to leave you alone. They didn't like it." He picked up the stick he'd been stirring the fire with and knelt by the pit. He poked at the ash, but only a hint of orange embers remained. "They had it all laid out like a contract. My job was to get you out here, destroy the transport and wait for retrieval."

"A contract." She shook her head. "They knew you wouldn't be able to resist that."

"I could have been more involved. For example, I could have made sure that the house had two beds."

She looked at him, her gaze cool.

"I'll sleep on the floor."

"Just go to bed." Leia adjusted the blanket around her. "I'm not tired anyway."

He didn't like leaving her there, but he _was_ tired, not mention stiff and sore. All of the fighting and fucking and flying was forcing him to face the ugly truth that he wasn't young anymore. So he went back to the house, removed his jacket and boots and fell into bed. Sometime during the night he felt her climb in beside him, still wrapped tightly in the blanket. The next time he woke up, sunlight was streaming in through the windows and Leia was sitting on the end of the bed sipping something from stone cup.

"You found the instant caf."

"Yes." Her lip curled just a little. Leia was not a fan of instant caf.

He sat up and rubbed a hand over his face. The bed was creaky and the mattress was lumpy, but exhaustion made it tolerable.

"Do you know what this place reminds me of?" Leia asked.

"Not the place we spent our honeymoon."

"No." She blew across the top of her cup. "That place had a professional-grade caf maker, not to mention a luxury-width bed and a bathtub with pulsing jets, which I would kill for right about now. It reminds me of that shack you were living in on Concord Dawn."

"Huh."

"Particularly the 'fresher. There was a lizard in there." She took another sip. "I thought about killing it with a rock, but really, why should I?"

He didn't respond.

"It's not like the lizard drugged me and brought me out here against my will."

Well, he was certainly awake now. "Is that a warning?"

"I'm not going to kill you. I definitely thought about pouring this caf on your head, though."

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and leaned forward. "Go ahead, if you want."

"Is this some kind of test?" She sounded annoyed. "To see if I'll give into temptation?"

"Just an offer." He raised his head. "Do you want me to kill the lizard?"

"I trapped it in a box and let it go outside. It seemed wrong to end the life of some poor creature just looking for a home." A pause. "Do you think I would be able to make that distinction if I had turned to the dark side?"

"I don't believe in the dark side, you know that."

"I thought maybe Luke changed your mind, since the two of you are suddenly so _close_."

Fett narrowed his eyes. "You don't think I'm fucking your brother, do you?"

She gave him a scornful look over the rim of her cup. "Not all betrayal is sexual."

His mouth was dry. He needed a drink. He checked the cup on the table beside the bed, but it was empty.

"Here." Leia held out her cup of caf, and he almost reached for it before he stopped and pulled his hand back. It was something she often did, offering him a sip of whatever she was drinking. It occurred to him that he'd always attached a certain significance to that gesture, but maybe he was wrong. Maybe it was just a simple courtesy.

"I'll get my own." He rose and filled a cup with water before tearing open the packet of instant caf mixed with heating crystals. It fizzed in the cup for a few seconds, and then he lifted the steaming beverage to his mouth.

It tasted like stale water.

Leia was watching his face. "It's terrible, isn't it?"

" _Fierfek_." He set down his cup and pulled a hydropack out of the supplies.

"So," she said, still sipping her caf unbothered, "does your contract demand that you stop me if I try to leave?"

"It wasn't specified." He took a few swallows of water from the pack and resealed it. "Are you planning to build a boat?"

"No. I'm just curious about this place. Someone is using it, or at least maintaining it. Is it a fishing hut? A solitary retreat? Does the owner bring a communications tower with them every time they visit?"

He shrugged. "Kyd found it."

"A saw a couple of Mungbats last night and it just occurred to me...if I had communications equipment and I didn't want it to be visible from the air…"

"You think there's a cave."

She raised her eyebrows, a question in her eyes.

"All right," he said. "Let's take a walk."

* * *

The central office if Keldabe was becoming a regular stop for Luke. It was a plain building behind a tapcafe, and the guard in the lobby doubled as a receptionist. "He's in," she said, nodding at Luke.

"Thanks Hona."

The door to Dyrk's office was open. It was Leia's old office, and it had devolved slightly in appearance since her departure. Whatever decorations Leia had left were still on the wall, but all the furnishings had been removed. There was only one additional chair and the desk was littered with take-out boxes.

"How's it going?" Luke asked as he entered. He shut the door behind him.

Dyrk glanced up at Luke before returning his attention to the holoprojections on his desk. "Proceeding smoothly, as far as I can tell. Vice Chair Mallo is handling the Senate, and Mon Mothma is spinning it for the press."

"I couldn't have done this without you."

"Politics is hard work. I don't think I ever really understood that."

"You're doing a great job. Everyone says so." Luke came around the desk and sat on his lap. "Especially Vice Chair Mallo."

Dyrk grinned up at him. "I'm teaching her to play _cu'bikad_." He wrapped his arms around Luke's waist. "I like this."

Luke ran his hand over the forearm that crossed his stomach, enjoying the warmth and solidness of it under his fingers. "It's still okay with you? That we're not having sex?"

"Of course it is."

"I know before-"

Dyrk lifted his hand and cupped Luke's cheek. "That was fifteen years ago, Jedi. I'm with you and I'm happy. I don't need anything more."

Luke leaned in and kissed him. "There will be more," he promised as they parted. "We'll figure something out."

"So long as you understand that I meant what I said. I'm happy."

"I know. I just think your happiness should include...I don't know, the occasional handjob or something."

"Well, I'm never going to refuse the occasional handjob." Dyrk's fingers curled around the back of Luke's neck. " _Haar'chak,_ I forgot how easily you blush. You're so _kriffing_ cute."

"Do you have plans tonight? For dinner?"

"I was going to meet my aunt, but I can cancel. Or…you could join us."

Luke sat back a little. "I haven't met any of your family yet."

"And you should. You'll like Lin." He paused. "She does have one funny habit, though, which is when you meet her she might say something like 'Oh, that's why.' And you shouldn't think about it or try to figure out what she means."

"Uh-huh." Luke decided to let that go. "I guess-"

The door opened, and Luke quickly stood as his nephews entered, followed by Shysa. Kyd punched his brother's arm. "I think we interrupted something."

"No," Luke said quickly. "No you didn't."

"Were you _kissing_?" Shysa demanded, clearly disgusted.

"Yeah they were," Jonah ruffled his little sister's hair, but she jerked her head away.

"Leave me alone," she snapped. She went to Luke and put her hand in his. Her skin was was warm and sweaty. She brought her other hand up to her mouth, balled into a fist, and her thumb popped out, but then she tucked it back.

"Oh." Luke immediately picked her up, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

Kyd heaved a sigh. "C'mon, Shy, they've only been gone a few days."

"Shh," Dyrk said quietly. "Let your uncle handle it."

"It's okay," Luke told his niece. "It's okay. I miss your mom too. I even miss your dad...a little."

"She had another nightmare last night," Jonah reported. "She wanted to sleep in mom and dad's bed, so we all slept there."

Luke could feel the disquiet in his niece's mind. It was understandable, considering her recent trauma, but it broke his heart just the same. He closed his eyes and spread calm over her restless thoughts. _It's okay, Shysa. It's going to be okay._

If there was a second of doubt in his mind, he ruthlessly crushed it. This _would_ work. It had to.

He could feel her arms slowly relax. "Uncle Luke, I'm too big to be carried."

"You're right. Sorry." As he put her down he saw Jonah watching. "I can teach you," he told his nephew, and Jonah nodded.

Dyrk gave him a subtle "good job" gesture as he rose and put a hand on Kyd's shoulder. "Uncle Luke and I were just making plans for dinner. Why don't you all come with us? We'll go to the place with fried cheese."

"Oyika's." Shysa supplied. "I like fried cheese."

"What about your aunt?" Luke asked.

"I'll invite her to join us. She loves kids. Well, okay, she doesn't _love_ them. she tolerates them. Should be fun."

Luke glanced at nephews. Kyd exchanged a look with Jonah and shrugged. "Yeah, okay. Fried cheese."


	19. Chapter 19

The clothing her daughter had packed for her were a little light for the climate, but they at least included sturdy shoes and Leia was grateful for that. They went down along the water line where the surf was a near-constant roar and picked their way over and around the rocks.

The island was bigger than it looked from the house. They walked for hours, stopped to eat some of their rations and started walking again. The sun was starting to dip when Leia finally admitted defeat. "We have to go back."

Fett nodded.

"Do you think...we made it halfway around?"

"Maybe."

"If we started again tomorrow and went in the opposite direction-"

"We can try it." He turned and started the climb up the steep bank to higher ground.

"You don't have to do this, you know." Leia started after him. "You can just stay at the house."

"I've got nothing better to do."

Leia wasn't sure if she should trust his helpfulness. Just because he wasn't bound by contract to keep her from leaving didn't mean he wouldn't sabotage her efforts for his own agenda.

Aside from that, it was sort of nice to spend time with him again.

It was windy at the top of the island, there were no trees and very little brush. Fett took off his jacket and handed it to her without comment. After a moment of hesitation, she took it, and put it on. "Just last week I told Genei I was beginning to forget what the outdoors were like."

"Sounds like prison."

She gave him an irritated look. "You want me to say I hate it? Fine. Sometimes I hate it. But I'm trying to achieve something very important. Something that will make the galaxy safer for all of us."

His mouth formed a fleeting sneer. "Dyrk told me about your idea to turn Mandalorians into a galactic army."

"Why is Dyrk telling you anything?"

"I'm the _Mand'alor_."

"Oh, so _now_ you're the _Mand'alor_ , unlike every other day since you declared it."

He was silent and stonefaced. She _hated_ it when he did that. Her right hand itched to wrap the force around his throat, pick him up and shake him until he expressed a godsdamn emotion. With a disgusted sigh, she turned to walk away.

"Do you want me to tell you why I think it's a bad idea?"

She stopped and turned back, sarcasm dripping from every word. "Go on, Fett, I'm _dying_ to hear a bounty hunter's perspective on galactic peacekeeping."

"Anyone can become a Mandalorian, but there's no advantage to be gained by it. It's about a shared culture. Shared values. If Mandalorians have a privileged status as enforcers for the Republic, every prick who likes to rape and loot will be taking up armor. You'll end up with another Death Watch. Probably more than one."

Leia folded her arms over her chest. "That's a slippery argument. What makes you think I can't keep them from splitting off into a murderous faction?"

"Because no one can. Greed is in the nature of all creatures." Fett looked down at the ground for a moment. "You know what my dad told me about the Death Watch? He said they weren't 'true Mandalorians.' But I think that's banthashit. It's not about warring ideologies, it's about the price of power. They were willing to pay it."

"One could say the same thing about your father," Leia replied tartly. "Considering the deal he made to create you and all your brothers."

"And that's why he's happily living out his retirement, playing with his grandchildren. Much like _your_ father."

"Oh, so _this_ is where you compare me to Darth Vader." She folded her arms over her chest, her hands lost in the sleeves of his coat. "Please, continue."

"This isn't about the force."

"Like _hell_ it's not."

"You hid it from me." He spoke slowly and deliberately, the way he did when he was angry and trying to not to show it. "After that trip to Dagobah, you said it wasn't your path, and I believed you. But what happened on Wayland was not about the force. It was about you. You lost control."

"What makes you-" She caught a glimpse of something, and the furious words died in her throat. "Boba, look."

From this spot she could see the opposite side of the island, and there was a shallow, rocky gully that started a few feet from where they stood and ran down to a gray beach at the shore. Just beyond it was a cave, the entrance half underwater.

"It's getting dark," Fett observed.

"We have a portalight. It won't take us that long." She started making her way down into the gully.

"That water's going to be cold."

"I'm not planning to get wet." There were a number of large rocks around the mouth of the cave. By letting the force guide her reflexes, she was sure she could stay out of the ocean.

When she reached the beach she removed her boots and socks and Fett's jacket. The sand was gritty and coarse beneath her feet.

She took a few steps back and then ran to the edge of the water and jumped. She made it to the first rock. The second was somewhat pointed, but she swung easily around it to the flatter one beside it. From the flat rock she jumped to a more rounded one, landing in a crouch, and from there she could just see the sandy lip at the cave's entrance. She jumped again. The sand was softer in the cave, but the interior was completely black.

And Fett had the light.

"Damn it," she said aloud. She turned back toward the opening, only to find her husband right behind her. "Seven hells! How did you…"

"The water's not that deep." His pants were wet from the knee down.

"Oh."

He turned the light on. " _Fierfek_ ," he said in a barely audible whisper. Leia had no words, but she agreed with his assessment.

The cave went back twenty-five, maybe thirty feet. There was no stashed comm equipment. But there were bones. Lots, and lots of bones. Some of them were clearly human and many of them were...small. There was a skull not three feet away that could easily have belonged to a child.

Fett's quiet voice broke through her shock and horror. "I wish I had my helmet."

"We're alone," she replied. "No other...living things here."

"Good to know."

"What is this place?"

"Looks like a dumping ground to me." In the backwash from the light she could see how grim his face was. "They weren't laid out for burial. What does it feel like?"

It took her a moment to understand what he was asking. "It's...I don't think they died here. They were brought here." She tried to see it, but all she saw was a dark shape, pulling on a rope, dragging something through the water. "He tied a rope around their bodies and pulled them through the water so he wouldn't have to carry them."

Her stomach abruptly turned over and she bent at the waist and vomited onto the soft sand. It was too much. They were too small, too helpless. Had they died in pain? Did they understand what was happening? She heaved again, tears stinging her eyes. If only she could shut out the sound of the surf that bore their bodies into this place. She focused on her her own ragged breathing, with Fett's echoing behind it.

As soon as she could, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and straightened. "Let's get out of here." She was moving but she wasn't moving fast enough. She didn't bother with the rocks this time, she plunged directly into the frigid water.

Oh _gods_. What about their families? Were they still waiting, cold and hollow, praying for their child's safe return? She stumbled and dropped to her knees in the receding tide, saltwater splashing into her open mouth. It tasted like death.

And then she was on the beach, curled up on her side. Fett was beside her, his hand on her cheek and his jacket spread over her for warmth. His voice was rough and urgent. "Leia. Look at me. Say something."

He was so worried. "It's okay. I'm-" A tremor ran through her, and the words spilled out of her like the bile she'd left on the floor of the cave. "We could have lost her. She could have died in that little room, and someone could have dumped her body in a place like this. We would never have known-"

He wrapped both arms around her and pulled close.

"It was all my fault. I was the one watching her, If I hadn't been so busy-" Her voice broke into a gasping sob, and she gave into her tears, clinging to him as if her life depended on it. "I can't-" Her throat seized up, but still she tried to force the words out. "I can't stop replaying it over and over in my head. Sometimes we don't go to the park, and sometimes I go with her around the fountain. Sometimes I see the man coming and I-" She lifted and hand and made a fist, crushing an imaginary windpipe. "I could have stopped him. I could have prevented all of this."

He caught her hand and held it against his chest, rubbing her skin. "You're shivering. We need to start moving." He sat up and drew her up with him, adjusting his coat around her shoulders.

Leia inhaled shakily. "So are we staying in a murderer's house?"

"Might be the owner. Might not be. It would be pretty easy to pull a boat in here unnoticed." His expression was sober. "The bones are clean. They've been here a while."

"Seven hells." She closed her eyes briefly. "Do not let Kyd pick the location of anything ever again."

"I won't." Fett looked at her for a moment, then drew himself upon his knees. "Leia, it wasn't your fault."

She made a half-hearted attempt at brushing the sand off her wet pants. "You don't have to say that."

"Do you want me to say it again?" There was a raw, almost angry edge in his voice. "Because I will. I'll say it as many times as I have to."

"It doesn't matter now."

"Yes it does. All of this-" he made an encompassing gesture. "-is because you blame yourself. _Kriffing_ hell, I'm so stupid."

Leia stared up at him. "What are you talking about it?"

"I should have known." He continued. "Because we have the same sickness. Always have. We're survivors. We never stop blaming ourselves. And we never stop trying to fix it."

"Boba-"

"I should have taken you with me. When Shysa first went missing. I should never have left you on Coruscant."

"Someone had to handle things there. It was the smart call."

"It wasn't the right call. You should have been with me. We should have done it together."

Hot tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, and she paused to wipe them away before answering. "It was such an awful time. I think...at the very least...we should be able to forgive each other for everything that happened during it." She sniffed and then let out a soft laugh. "Also, you're not allowed to blame yourself because I'm blaming myself. Survivor's guilt is not a competition."

He grimaced in acknowledgement and held out his hand to help her up. Once she was standing she wrapped her arms around his middle and he returned the embrace, his chin resting her head. The sun was just a sliver above the horizon now, and her teeth were beginning to chatter.

"We should go back to the house," he said.

"I know." She pressed her forehead into his chest. "I really don't want to stay here."

"Me neither," he admitted. "Let's build a fucking boat."


	20. Chapter 20

Luke jolted awake, his reflexes stumbling to catch up as he tried to kick his feet out of the covers and reach for his commlink at the same time.

Dyrk stirred on the other side of the bed. "Who is it?"

"Unknown origin." After a moment of hesitation, Luke decided to take it. He left the bedroom so he wouldn't disturb Dyrk and nearly dropped the commlink when he found himself facing his sister and Boba Fett. "Leia?" He gave his head a quick shake, half-convinced he was dreaming. "Where are you?"

"Some little planet called Dubrillion? Anyway, that's not important. Listen, I need you to have Dyrk run a full background check on the names Su'siat Do and Su'siat Do Kin. I think they're the same person but it could also be a father and son. Also the Rinto organization. You might need a clearance to check Imperial records, but Dyrk can request that from-"

"Wait a minute." Luke was no closer to understanding. "If you need Dyrk do all of this, why didn't you call him?"

"I didn't want to wake him."

"But-"

"Wake me for what?" Dyrk walked out of the bedroom wearing nothing but his undershorts, blinking sleepily. "What…" he pointed at the projection. "That's not supposed to happen."

As confused as they both were, it paled in comparison to Leia, who was literally open-mouthed and staring. Luke remembered too late that his sister was completely unaware of the connection between them. "What-" she sputtered. "You and _Dyrk_? When-" She turned to look at her husband, and her shock turned to outrage. "You _knew_? How long have you known?"

Fett considered that a moment. "How old is Jonah now?"

" _WHAT?_ "

"That was not the right answer," Dyrk said, shaking his head. "I can't watch this. When she's done killing him, find out how they got off Kyd's island."

"Yeah…" Luke cleared his throat. "I thought you two were supposed to be spending a week on a remote island with no communication devices."

"Funny story," Fett started to answer, but Leia put her hand on his arm.

"No. Don't tell him. Apparently we're not the kind of family who _talks_ about our _personal lives_."

"It's not...we haven't been together this whole time," Luke gestured helplessly as he tried to explain. "We had a brief thing around the time Jonah was born and then we broke up. We just sort of recently...reconnected."

His sister was clearly unconvinced. "Well, you have fun _reconnecting_ , and remember to look up those names. You can comm me back at this ID."

"Wait." Luke still wasn't sure what was happening. "You're not going...back to Coruscant?"

"When I'm finished here. I was told you have everything under control. Is that true?"

"Yeah. Yes. The story is that you're on medical leave."

Dyrk leaned over Luke's shoulder. "Pregnant with triplets is what some of the 'bloids are saying. And your husband may not be the father."

"Oh, good. I assume Vice Chair Mallo is running the senate?"

"She's got them well in hand," Dyrk affirmed. "But what's with the investigation? Did you manage to stumble across a sentient rights violation on a deserted island?"

"Potentially, yes." Her expression turned grim. "I just...I'd like to see this through." A pause. "Are the kids okay?"

"Yeah, they're fine."

"You don't have to tell them anything yet. Let them think we're still where they left us. And run those names as soon as you can."

"We'll get right on it," Luke promised.

She ended the transmission. Luke stood there for a moment, still trying to put it all together.

"They seem like they're getting along?" Dyrk offered. "That's a good sign, right?"

"Or a really, really bad one? I don't _kriffing_ know." Luke sighed.

The Mandalorian put his arms around his shoulders and kissed the side of his head. "No sense losing sleep over it, Jedi. Come back to bed."

* * *

Port Aunoc was a small seaside town, where it could be reasonably assumed that you were there to fish or to buy fish. There were two cantinas and only one rented out rooms, so that was where they ended up.

"I can't believe you never told me," Leia was still glaring at him as she took a seat at the bar.

Fett tapped on the surface to draw the bartender's attention and sat down next to her. "It never came up."

Leia rolled her eyes and then turned to smile at the young Quarren who came to take their order. "Something very strong," she told her. " _Tihaar_ , if you've got it."

"Uh, I'll check." She looked at Fett. "And for you, sir?"

"The same."

The bartender vanished into the storeroom, and Leia raised her eyebrows at him. "Are you sure you want to do that? How many times in your life have you actually had _tihaar_?"

He shrugged. "Don't know that I ever have."

"Oh, you're in for a _treat_." Leia shook her head. "So when exactly did the whole thing start? Dyrk wasn't part of the guard for very long."

"I don't know when it started. A few months after we were married Luke stayed at your house in Keldabe and Dyrk was with him. I saw them while reviewing the security feeds."

"And when you say you _saw_ them-"

"No. Nothing like that."

The bartender returned, gingerly carrying a dusty bottle by the neck. She held it out for their approval. The label showed a pink-cheeked Mandalorian woman roasting plums over a fire. "We'll take that, and two glasses," Leia told her.

She thunked it down on the bar and wiped her three-fingered hand off on her apron before setting two small glasses beside it.

"Hey, settle a bet," Fett said. "Do you think my friend here looks like the new chancellor?" He ignored Leia's started look and watched the Quarren instead. She looked at Leia and her face tentacles wriggled with concentration.

"What's the chancellor look like?"

"Never mind." He picked up the bottle and twisted off the seal.

The bartender nodded and moved moved away.

"What was that?" Leia inquired.

"Just testing something." He filled only the bottom of his glass the way he'd seen people do it on Mandalore and without hesitating, tipped the entire contents into his mouth. He expected it to burn, and it _burned_. It nearly choked him. But once it was down the heat settled pleasantly into the back of his throat, and he tasted a hint of ripe fruit.

Leia was watching him a bemused expression. "You're supposed to pour one for me too. And you always toast the first drink."

He filled her glass and refilled his own. "Why do you toast the first drink?"

"For luck, I guess." She lifted her glass. "To the Port Aanoc Coastal Patrol." They both drank. The burn was just as bad the second time, but the finish was sweeter.

"I never thought I'd be one behind drinking with you," she murmured. "Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time we drank together, or even went to a bar."

"We met in a bar."

"We met in a salvage shop. You _lured_ me to the bar."

"And you told me a terrible joke with no punchline." He poured again.

"Boba." She put her hand over his as he reached for his glass. "If you keep that up, you're going to get very drunk, very quickly."

"Good." The third one was maybe a tiny bit easier. Or maybe his esophagus had gone numb from the shock.

Leia waved at the bartender. "Can we get some food over here?"

"Biscuits?"

"That's fine."

The alcohol was beginning to settle into his bloodstream now. It felt like the steam from a hot shower. Warm and wet and comforting.

The bartender returned with a basket of small dense biscuits, heavily salted. It occurred to Fett that he was actually very hungry. He hadn't eaten anything since that morning, when they had a few protein bars at the Coastal Guard headquarters. He took two biscuits and pushed the basket towards Leia.

"So why the sudden determination to get drunk?" She asked as she took one.

"Why not? We can't do anything until Dyrk runs the background on the island's former owner. No one here knows _who_ we are and the people who do know don't know _where_ we are. We're the safest we've ever been."

She toyed with her glass. "I thought maybe it had something to do with the question I asked you this morning before we left the guardhouse." She looked up, her eyes bright and sharp.

Damn it.

He took his time munching down his second biscuit, and poured himself another drink. Maybe he'd drink this one a bit more slowly. "Last month I got a priority transmission from Unatarlo, the Prime Minister of Montest Consortium. He said it was a delicate matter, and he needed to speak to me personally. A paid consultation. So I went." He grimaced a little, remembering. "They greeted me like a godsdamn head of state. Everything formal. Dinner, music, live entertainment. I reminded Unatarlo that this wasn't a social call, and he ushered me into his office. Turns out he didn't need a bounty hunter, he needed a lobbyist."

Understanding dawned on her face. "Oh. Because of the weapons sanction."

"Probably. I didn't stay for the full presentation. I told Unatarlo that I expected to be paid for my time and I left. The next morning he sent double my fee."

"Oh," she said quietly.

"You asked me this morning why I didn't want you to be the chancellor. That's one reason why."

"You never had that happen while I was in the senate?"

"There are easier and cheaper ways to buy a senator." In spite of his intentions to slow down, he downed his fourth glass of _tihaar_ and hoped the warmth it brought could somehow soften his words. "We've always been able to balance it. Your life. My life. But I can't balance this. To support you, I would have to retire. Stay on Mandalore and do my duty as _Mand'alor_ , or stay in the chancellor's residence on Coruscant and hope that you occasionally need my help."

"Truly a choice between one hell or another," Leia commented drily.

"I would never ask you to give up your work. You're too good at it." He leaned toward her, his voice low. "You should be chancellor, empress and queen of the godsdamn galaxy."

"You should eat another biscuit."

He shrugged and hooked his finger around the basket.

"So why didn't you say anything before? After Wayland, for example, when I first told you about the nomination."

He took a biscuit from the basket, but his fingers closed around it and it crumbled.

"Boba?"

"There was a moment, when C'baoth was in my head...I thought you wanted me to kill myself."

Leia's face drained of color. "What?"

"I know that's not-" He dropped the ruined biscuit on the bar and brushed the crumbs off his fingers. "I've always thought that someday I would say the wrong thing, or do the wrong thing, and you would leave me. C'baoth found that, and he twisted it. He made me believe that you were done with me. I wasn't useful to you anymore. I couldn't help you. I let Shysa-"

"Don't-"

"I know. Not a competition. But that's what he made me think. What I almost believed." He let his fingers trail over the scarred surface of the bar, sweeping crumbs into a nice, neat pile. One crumb slipped into a deeper crack, and he bent his head closer to work it out with his thumbnail.

"But you didn't believe it," Leia said. "Because I asked you go after Oktan, and you said no." She sat up a little. "Were you testing me?"

He picked up one of the large crumbs and put it in his mouth. The salt melted on his tongue. "These are good," he said. "They work. I feel pretty sober."

"You're nowhere close to 'pretty sober.'" She rested her elbow on the bar and propped her chin on it. "But apparently you can still dodge questions."

The corners of his mouth pulled upward as he continued to meticulously gather the scattered biscuit crumbs. Not because it was funny, but because she knew him so well. "I said no," he agreed. "And you looked down at me, and it was like C'baoth was in my head again, only worse. Because it wasn't him, it was you. I remember thinking, 'she could kill me right now.' And I didn't hate the idea. Better than...living like that." He reached for the bottle, but it clinked clumsily against the glass when he tried to pour. _Fierfek_. His hand was unsteady. He put the bottle down.

Leia took the glass in front of him and tossed it back with a flick of her wrist. She looked...sad. What had he said? He couldn't remember exactly. "You're still one behind," he told her.

"That's okay. You win." She put the glass back, and then she touched his hand, her fingers curling around his. "I'm really sorry."

"For what?"

"For making you feel...like that. I-" She looked at him a moment and then squeezed his hand. "We'll talk about it in the morning. After you've stopped throwing up."

"I'm not going to throw up. I feel fine." He didn't want her to be sad. She should be happy, like the woman roasting plums on the bottle's label. "How do you open a door on Kashyyyk?"

"What?"

"You need a woo-key."

She stared at him in disbelief.

"See that's a joke with a punchline. That's how it works."

But Leia didn't laugh. Instead she leaned over and kissed him.


	21. Chapter 21

Only last week, Leia had resigned herself to the fact that her marriage was over. She even made an appointment to discuss legal separation with her personal adviser. It wouldn't be too hard to achieve. Their finances had always been separate, and she was prepared to sign over the house on Mandalore to Jonah. Telling their children would be hardest part, but she thought they would realize quickly that it wouldn't be that different from the way they had grown up.

She was sure no one else would be very surprised. The surprising part was that they made it last sixteen years.

But on the day that she was supposed to meet with her advisor, she found herself instead sitting in a bar on a remote world, drinking with her estranged husband. Drinking and then kissing. And kissing until the bartender cleared her throat loudly. And then renting some shabby little room, where she was, at this exact moment, unbuckling his belt.

Her back was pressed against the locked door, and his lips were on her throat, and she was caught somewhere between wanting this with every molecule of her being and fearing that this was drunken self-delusion. "Boba, wait...this might not be…"

He pulled back. He was trying to focus on her face, but he wasn't quite succeeding. "Shower?" He said abruptly.

"Shower?" She echoed, confused.

He took her hand and pulled her into the 'fresher, which was small but scrubbed clean. He turned on the water in the shower and before Leia could really process it he stepped under the spray and dragged her with him.

It was _cold_.

He pressed her into the corner, water dripping from his head and kissed her again. Icy water streamed over them, soaking their clothing, she let out a shuddering gasp as he released her, her alcohol-drenched senses slowly coming back to life.

Fett put his head under the spigot once more and ran a hand over his head, sluicing water from his hair. His breathing was quick, but his eyes were sharp and clear. His wet shirt clung to his broad back as he turned to shut off the water.

"Oh," Leia said and reached for his belt again. They struggled out of their wet clothing in between hungry kisses and the occasional muffled curse. The air was an assault on her chilled skin, gooseflesh prickled up and down her arms and legs.

He took her wrists and pinned them above her head, the heat of his mouth moving from her neck to her collarbone and then to her chest. He knelt to go lower, his hands on her hips as he licked the water from her stomach. She dropped her hands to his head, her nails dragging up the back of his neck, and suddenly he pulled back.

"Hands. Up." He looked at her with one eyebrow raised, daring her to refuse.

She raised her hands in a gesture of surrender and then laced her fingers together at the top of her head. He nodded once in approval and nudged her legs a little further apart. She grasped at her wet hair in frustration as his fingers teased her. Oh _gods_. She couldn't help the eager buck of her hips as he pressed light kisses to her lower abdomen and the tops of her thighs.

He looked up at her again, that intent dark gaze that she knew so well. His finger pressed into her and she squirmed against the cold tiles. His teeth nipped at the soft skin on her belly and he worked two fingers into her, fucking her slowly with them. His thumb moved and the sound she made was not quite a moan, but some choked and undignified relation.

She was so completely focused on the tortuous movements of his fingers, she noticed he stopped before she heard it.

Her new commlink. The one only Luke had the ID for.

"Godsdamnit," she said aloud. Fett withdrew his fingers without comment. She had to answer it. It could be about their children.

Leia hurried out to the bedroom, naked and dripping wet, and snatched the commlink off the bedside table. "Incoming transmission," she told her husband over her shoulder. "He found something."

"Something" turned out to be an understatement. Leia connected the commlink to the old holoprojector in the room, and then sat down on the edge of the bed. " _Kriffing_ hell."

Dyrk had uncovered a hefty file on Su'siat Do Kin from the Imperial archives. The Kubaz was a career criminal who used a good fifty different known aliases and worked for just about every mob, guerilla or terrorist outfit in the galaxy over the last fifty years. Hutts. Pirates. Black Sun. Death Watch.

Fett, who had actually bothered to grab a towel, looked over at the projection while he was drying off. "I know one of those names. Neeun Nott. Professional cleaner."

"Not the kind of cleaner who scrubs 'freshers and makes beds, I assume."

"He might have. But for reasons you don't want to think about." He tossed her the towel, and she absently hugged it to her. "He's a mob fixer," Fett continued. "If someone in the family makes a mess, he cleans it up. Whatever that entails."

"Could it mean hiding the bodies of dead children?"

"It could. I'll start working my contacts," he said, his eyes running down through the listing. "Seems like we know a lot of the same people."

Leia looked at him through the green glow of the projection, and for a second the mystery of the island burial ground evaporated in her mind. Fett was standing there naked with one hand on his hip, and she couldn't think about anything other than his broad chest, and the perfect, muscular line of his arms and the downright shameful curve of his ass.

Sixteen years had barely touched him. And if there was a little more softness around his pecs and stomach and backside she didn't mind it at all. Not one bit.

"Oh, gods." She covered her face briefly with her hands. "I can't look at this right now. I'm still a little drunk and kind of-" she pulled the towel away enough to look at her chest "-aroused, and I can't-"

Fett crossed through the holograph, yanked the towel away and bent to kiss her in a single motion. He leaned into it, pushing her back onto the bed and covered her body with his own.

He wanted her so much. The way he touched her, the way he looked at her...it was a comforting constant in her life. His mouth moved down from her throat to her breast, and her back arched off the bed. Her skin was still wet but in no universe was she cold.

His thighs forced hers just a little further apart and she reached down to touch him. She bit down on her lip as he grew harder and her body tightened with anticipation. If she didn't want him inside of her so badly, she would have brought him off just like that, just for the pleasure of watching his face. She gave him one last squeeze and wrapped one leg around his waist, her hips tilting up to meet his.

He looked up just long enough to meet her eyes, just for a second or two, and then he was pressing into her. She shuddered, and twisted, and he pushed in even deeper, filling her up completely. "Oh," she gasped, rocking her hips against his, urging him to move. "Don't-" she had to stop to breathe, "Don't hold back. Fuck me. Make me sore tomorrow."

His mouth twisted, and she caught a flash of teeth. "Where are your manners, Chancellor?" He cupped her cheek, and the heat in his eyes made her pulse skip. She put her hand over his, pressed her cheek against his palm and then guided it down to the hammering pulse in her throat.

"Oh, I'm _so_ sorry. Would you do me the honor of fucking me right this godsdamn minute?"

"That kind language will go over great at press briefings." His fingers briefly spanned her throat before he curled his fingers and let the backs brush over her flushed skin.

She wrapped both her legs around his waist, holding him as tightly as she could. "I don't care. Boba, _please_."

He dropped his hand back to the bed and thrust into her. No playing around now. His pace was forceful and relentless, and every deep thrust echoed through her body like a burst of electric current that she could feel it all the way out to her fingers and toes.

That sweet tension from the shower built back up inside her, stronger and wilder. She tried to reach down between them, but Fett pushed her hand away. He pulled out, grasped her hips, and turned her over onto her stomach. He did it so quickly it made her head swim, but she willingly thrust her ass up as he entered her from behind, their bodies slapping together roughly as he began to move again.

He leaned over her and slipped his fingers down between her legs, eliciting a pleading cry from Leia. Her fingers clawed and fisted the worn coverlet, and her head dropped down between her arms as a shaft of searing heat stabbed through her. Her bones turned to liquid as she collapsed face-first on the bed.

She was only dimly aware of being rolled over onto her back again, and her trembling legs parted. Oh, there he was. Right where he should be. He entered her again, moving slowly but steadily, his breathing ragged. Leia arched up to kiss him. She tasted sweat and just a hint of _tihaar_ as she let her teeth drag just a little on his lower lip. _Come for me_ , she whispered into his mind.

And he did. His body stiffened against hers, his shoulders hunched and his head dropped the curve of her neck. She held him close, savoring the heat from his skin and pulsing release inside of her. He was still and panting for a few seconds, and then he lifted his head. "Did you-"

Her hand covered her mouth in consternation. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"Stop." He looked down at her steadily, still breathing hard. "Don't do that again."

"I won't. I promise."

He looked at her second longer, then nodded and shifted so he could rest his head on her chest.

She rubbed her palm between his shoulder blades, grateful for that small measure of grace. She truly hadn't meant to place a suggestion in his mind, but he was so open to her at that moment, and the sense of connection she felt was so powerful and enticing. How could she keep it from happening again?

Her body was still flushed from the alcohol and high on endorphins, but her mind had drawn back to the cold, inconsolable truth. In spite of everything, and all the things that were said and the physical bond that they shared...they hadn't really solved anything. Sooner or later they would have to leave this place, and all of the problems that led them here would still be waiting.

"What are we going to do?" She said aloud.

His arms tightened around her.


	22. Chapter 22

The houses were stark and set in a row, the curbs were bare and all the windows had bars.

The word that came to Fett's mind was "careful." No one left out so much as a potted plant or a decorative sign. This was a careful neighborhood, with locked doors and sealed lips.

Just in front of him, Leia stopped walking so abruptly that he almost ran into her. She turned suddenly and bounded up a short flight of steps to the front door. Fett followed at a slower pace, watching the windows. Two houses down the shutters cracked open just slightly.

By the time he caught up to his wife, she was conversing with a weathered old woman through a sliding window in the door. "What did you say your business was again?" The woman was frowning, her hand on the window cover as if she might shut it any second.

"We're private investigators," Leia replied with easy confidence. "It's about your son, Rubie."

That caught her attention, but her eyes were still wary. She looked over Leia's shoulder at Fett. "I can't pay you."

"Oh, no. It's nothing like that. We've been paid. Just tying up some loose ends."

Caution and curiosity warred on her face for a few seconds. "All right," she said finally. "Come in."

The interior was a little less sterile. There were some decorative items, a few holos. On a table in one corner was a holo of a young boy, maybe six or seven. He was opening a present, his eyes wide with delight.

"That's Rubie," the old woman said. "And there's his brothers over there."

The latter were grown men, standing in posed holos with families of their own. Rubie was the only one frozen in time.

"We don't know anything for sure," Leia said carefully. They agreed that she would do all the talking. "Some bodies have been found on Dubrillion, and a few have been linked to missing persons cases involving young children in this system. Based on the timeframe, your son's disappearance would fit."

The woman stared at her for a moment, not blinking. Then she sat, suddenly, as if her knees were weak.

"Oh."

"They're conducting the genetic testing now. I have a comm ID here, you can contact the authorities and give them your information. They'll notify you if they find a match."

"Everyone said there wasn't much chance, and I knew, after all these years...but…"

Leia sat down on the padded bench beside her, her expression grave. "I'm very sorry. I wish I had better news."

"It's…" The old woman gave a dry laugh and shook her head. "Well. It's just the way things are."

They sat together in silence for a long minute or two. The old woman brushed at her eyes and and rubbed her palms over her knees. Her hands were rough. The hands of a factory worker or a laborer. When Leia spoke, her voice was gentle. "I know it was a long time ago, but can I ask...did anyone contact you after your son's disappearance? Some kind of investigative service?"

She stared at her son's holo absently. "My husband tried to hire someone at one point. But he said it was too expensive."

"Do you remember the name of the person or organization he was in contact with?"

"No."

"Is your husband here?"

Her mouth twisted. "He took off a few years after Rubie disappeared. Another woman."

"Oh." Leia grimaced. "Sorry."

"You don't have to keep apologizing. It's nothing to do with you." The old woman gave Leia a thoughtful look. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"No. Mandalore system."

She raised her eyebrows. "You've come a long way." Her gaze shifted back to Fett. "I guess I'm not much help to you. I don't have much, but if you see anything you can sell..." She waved vaguely at her humble furnishings.

"We're mercenaries," Fett told her. "But not _that_ kind. Like she said, we've been paid."

Leia stood. "We should go. Here's the comm ID for the genetics lab, and here's my ID if you think of anything."

"Liddia Combrat." The old woman raised her head as if something had just occurred to her. "Twi'lek lady. Yellow skin, dark eyes. Her daughter was a little older than Rubie when she went missing. She sold her house to hire some outfit...but they never found her."

"Does she live around here?"

"Not anymore. She moved to Whiteblast City. We lost touch."

As soon as they were out the door, his wife was striding back towards the city transport hub, her eyes fixed straight ahead. "The city is about six hours from here. We'll have to take a rented speeder from the last transport stop."

"Do we have to go tonight?"

"Why not?" She slowed down just a little. "Don't tell me you're tired."

Three worlds in four days, _kriffing_ right he was tired. He missed his armor and his ship. These days he was used to gathering intelligence from the cockpit and relying on others to do this kind of work on the ground. Maybe that was a sign he was getting old and lazy. "You're not tired?"

"Of course I'm tired." Leia kept moving resolutely forward. "But we can't stop looking. Everyone remembers being contacted, but no one remembers the name."

"It was almost forty years ago."

"Forty years without answers." Her voice rose sharply in tone. "Without justice. Their families deserve that much."

As they reached the station, the public holostands assaulted them with news and advertising. Leia stopped in front of one as the image switched to reporters gathered outside the senate building. Vice Chair Mallo stepped out the door, her bodyguards holding the press at a distance. "Vice Chair!" One of them yelled. "Any update on Chancellor Organa?"

"The chancellor is still unable to return to work," Mallo responded through her translation device. "But she is receiving excellent care and we hope to have her with us again soon."

The image switched back to a newsdesk with a Rodian on one side and a human on the other. "She's still gone," the human said with dramatic horror. "Is she _ever_ coming back?"

"It's very difficult to say, since none of the specifics of her illness have been released." The Rodian rubbed her hands together. "But Vice Chair Mallo must be asking herself if this is her chance."

"Coming up next," chirped the human into the camera, "we interview Coruscant residents who voted for Chancellor Organa and ask them how they feel about their vote now. Stay with us."

Leia turned away and continued on towards the lower transport platform. Fett caught up with her on the automated ramp that carried them down to the subterranean level. "Leia." He paused to look around, gauging who might be in earshot before he continued in a low voice. "You can go. Get on the next transport back to the capital and hire a ship to the core. I'll finish this."

"And then what?" She demanded as she turned to face him, her eyes bright and wet. "Go back to living separate lives?"

He didn't know what to say. Leia was the one who always knew how to make everything work out. He was no fucking good at hypotheticals. "What do you want me to do?"

A knowing smile twisted her lips and she shook her head. "That's not going to work this time."

They reached the bottom and stepped off the ramp. The lower platform was shaded and dark except for the low lights embedded in the floors. A transport was just taking off, the hum of the engines filled the air as the rear lights rendered his wife's profile in sharp silhouette.

"I could hunt under a different name. Different gear. Different ship."

"Oh, right. Boba Fett retires, and the next week, some barve no one's ever heard of is picking up top bounties."

"I can be more subtle than that." It might even be good for him. No more laziness and relying on old contacts.

"You can't just give up everything you've worked for. That's not fair to you."

"It's not forever. You're not planning to overthrow the Republic and declare yourself Empress, are you? Nobody likes a copy-catik."

She gave him an exasperated look. "That's not funny."

"One term."

"Most chancellors serve for two."

"One term, Leia." As far as he was concerned, it was a generous offer. "And I'm not living in the Chancellor's residence."

"I leased out my apartment."

"I'll get a hotel room." He took her step closer to her and lowered his voice. "You can't expect to fuck me in your office every time. A man has to have standards."

Hot color filled her cheeks and she narrowed her eyes. "And what about our children?"

"They can stay wherever they like. I could buy an apartment of my own, if you would prefer that."

"You don't have any idea how much real estate costs in the government sector, do you?"

He folded his arms over his chest and frowned at her. "You never think I have money, but I do."

"Probably because I've seen your undershorts," she retorted. "And you might as well wear two sheets of flimsy. But you're right." Her shoulders lifted in a sigh. "I shouldn't make assumptions."

"That's all right. It'll be a nice surprise for you when I'm dead."

"Boba."

"One term."

Her eyes dropped, absently searching the floor. "You asked me what I wanted," she said as she looked up. "I want you. More than anything. I want this life we've built together. But I want a lot of other things too." Behind her, a transport roared up to the platform, and she stepped closer. Her hand caught his, and her fingers curled tight. "I accept. One term."

He wasn't expecting that. "You do?"

"That's our transport." She turned, their hands still joined, pulling him along with her.

"You don't want to negotiate?" He demanded, a little suspicious. "You don't want to argue over every little detail and condition?"

"So you can stall endlessly?" She threw a bemused smile over her shoulder as the doors to the transport opened and the passengers disembarked. "I don't think so. I'm sure we'll find something to haggle over, but for now…"

The lights on the floor flashed green, and a burst of static emitted from the auditory projectors. "You may now board," said a robotic voice.

"Come on." She looked at him and gave his hand a final squeeze before she released it. "We have a job to do."


	23. Chapter 23

"Is that it?" Leia leaned forward in the twilight gloom, trying to see more of the small house tucked away in the shadows of the tall evergreen trees.

"That's it." Fett removed his infrared goggles. "Only one person inside. He likes his privacy."

"He's about to like it a lot less."

They were both dressed in combat black, with weapons and gear purchased from the shadiest vendor at the spaceport when they landed on Grabredor III. Leia took another look at the serene setting, like something from decorative holostand. Beyond the small dwelling was a lake, with trees framing the mountains on the far side. Picture perfect.

"So what's the plan?" She asked her husband. "Kick down the door, take him by surprise?"

"Too much work." He pulled a flash-bang grenade from his belt and lobbed it at the house. They both ducked and covered their ears as the impact reverberated through the ground.

The door to the house opened and a stout old man with a shock of white hair rushed out, gaping at his smoking roof in horror. He appeared to be unarmed. Leia crept forward in the shadow of the trees, her pulse racing and her rifle aimed and ready. Fett stayed close behind her.

"Oleever Bant?" She called, and the man turned, staggering in shock as she stepped out into the clearing.

"What..." he raised his hands. "Please, don't shoot."

"Are you Oleever Bant?"

"I can't-" He tried to gesture at his ears. "The bang. I can't hear you."

It seemed like a reasonable excuse, but a prickling uneasiness crept up her spine. She sensed deception. "Wait," she told Fett. "Don't go any closer."

Without a word he stooped and picked up a rock the size of his fist. He rolled it into the tall grass just ahead, and the old man immediately dropped to the ground. Leia swiftly followed suit. Fett dropped down beside her a millisecond before a solid field of electrostun materialized above them for about two seconds and vanished.

To her left, a bird caught in the stun field dropped out of a tree and hit the ground with a soft thump. It was mind-boggling to think about the concealed equipment necessary for such a security system, but Leia didn't have time to dwell on it. The old man was up and running for the lake. Fett was already after him, and Leia jumped to her feet as well. She lifted her rifle up to her shoulder and tracked the fleeing man down the scope of her barrel.

Inhale. Exhale. _Feel the force…_

She fired, hitting him in the back of his right leg. He stumbled and fell at the water's edge, and then began to crawl frantically towards the water lapping the shore. Fett stepped into the shallows and put his boot down on the man's upper back, pushing his head underwater.

"What the hell is he doing?" She asked as she reached the shore, breathless from running. "There's no boat."

"Underwater vessel of some kind. Or maybe a bunker." The man was still thrashing, desperately trying to get his head above the surface of the murky water. Fett looked at her, an unspoken question in his eyes.

Oleever Bant was a vicious scumbag who spent decades working for a group of criminals who called themselves the Rinto Organization. They trafficked in all of the worst things. Spice, explosives, black market chemicals...and children.

But it wasn't enough for Bant to kidnap and sell children of all species to slavers and brothels. He got the bright idea to form a bogus consulting group that contacted the distraught families and sold them "rescue services" at exorbitant costs. In some cases they even provided proof in the form of holos and and personal items that their child was still alive, encouraging their relatives to borrow money from everyone imaginable to continue the search.

Eventually Bant grew impatient and with the help of an associate, Su'siat Do Kin, started abducting children and simply killing them. Su'siat disposed of the bodies, and Bant continued to sell his "services" to the families without having to worry about the politics and dangers of the slave trade.

He was, to put it mildly, the very worst kind of living being imaginable, and he deserved to slowly drown.

But would killing him now bring any peace and comfort to the families of his victims? Or would they be better served by seeing him tried and imprisoned?

Sadly, Su'siat Do Kin was beyond retaliation, having died of old age several years ago. His son, who inherited and leased out the island, didn't seem to have any connection to his father's criminal endeavors.

"Pull him up," she told Fett, who removed his boot and dragged him up by the back of his shirt. Bant gasped and choked, having already swallowed a fair amount of water and silt. Grimy white hair was plastered to his face, and he stared at them with bulging eyes.

"Satisfy my curiosity," Fett said. "Bunker or sub?"

"B-b-bunker. Look, I don't know who you work for, but I can pay-"

"And you will," Leia cut him off. "I'll guarantee that."

* * *

Luke stared at the blackened mass in the pan, and sniffed. _Ugh_. He didn't know what exactly happened, but something obviously went terribly wrong. If he soaked it long enough in the syrup, was there any chance of salvaging it?

He sat down at the counter of the small kitchen and grimly contemplated his first and only try at baking. The door chime sounded, and his first thought was Dyrk, but Dyrk had the pass code. He reached out through the force and then jumped to his feet. "Leia," he said as the door opened.

"Luke."

She was dressed in basic black fatigues and large hooded coat, her short hair slicked back. They stood there for a moment in silence, a space where she normally would have hugged him, but Luke didn't mind. He could feel the change in her. Leia was calm and centered. She wasn't angry. She wasn't afraid.

She also didn't seem to know what to say, a true rarity for his sister. She pressed her lips together and tilted her head to one side. "...What...is that smell?"

"Oh." Luke stepped aside to let her in. "I was just...um...trying something."

Leia moved cautiously toward the kitchen and actually flinched when she saw the contents of the pan. She took another sniff. "Is that supposed to be...cake?"

" _Uj_ cake. You know…"

"Yes, I know." She looked at him again. "So. You and Dyrk."

"I'm sorry I never told you. I wanted to. It was just...complicated."

"It always is with us, isn't it?" She removed her coat and laid it on a chair. "Might as well be our family motto."

"So are you...back? Officially?"

"Not yet. I wanted to talk to you first." His sister leaned her back against the counter. "Luke, I'm not like you."

"Meaning…?"

"I will never train as a Jedi. You found peace in that discipline, but all I can see are problems. I want to learn the ways of the force, but I can't follow your path. I've been trying to create my own path, but it's been brought to my attention that maybe...I need some help." She paused and took a deep breath. "I don't want to hurt anyone. I hurt Boba, and I hurt you. And I'm sorry."

Luke reached out his hand and touched hers. "I'll help you. And I'll try not to be a _shabuir_ about it."

The tension dropped off her shoulders and she wrapped him in a tight embrace. Luke closed his eyes, feeling for the first time in a long time like a whole and complete person. "You're learning _mando'a_ ," she murmured in his ear, "you're baking _uj_ cake. This must be serious."

"It is. I'm-" They parted and he shrugged, not knowing how to put it into words.

Leia squeezed his arm. "You're happy. I can feel it. And it's about godsdamn time you had something other than the academy in your life. By the way, Jonah and Kyd take credit for this, although I'm not clear on exactly how or why."

Luke shook his head. "I bet they were happy to see you. Shysa especially."

"Yes, and so _kriffing_ smug, even after we told them the island they rented was a murderer's burial ground."

"A _what_?"

"Oh, it's quite a story. I'll fill you in and then you can fill me in on everything that's happened in Coruscant." She sat down at the counter and eyed the smoldering cake. "Maybe you could...do something about that first."

"Do you think if I poured enough syrup over it-"

"No. I do not."


	24. Epilogue

The night air was warm and still, and grownup parties were boring so Shysa decided to take a walk. She left the bonfires where everyone was gathered, and drifted down the slope towards the field where people left their vehicles. There were guards all around the perimeter, but they were all Mandalorians and they all knew who she was. They gave her a friendly nod when she said she had to get something out of her family's speeder.

Kyd said that a speeder ignition could be hacked using a handheld battery charge and a strand of durazinc wire. Shysa had both of those things in her pocket. She wasn't going to actually _take_ a speeder. She just wanted to see if she could.

But first she had to find one that was unsecured.

There was a small cantina at the edge of the field, and every once in there were people at the entrance. Shysa was loitering near a likely speeder, waiting for a break in the foot traffic when she heard a woman's voice.

"You're Shysa Fett, aren't you?"

All at once she felt itchy and anxious. She'd decided she didn't like it when strange adults knew her name, and she hadn't even seen this woman approach. She took a step back, and the woman ducked her head. "I didn't mean to scare you. I'll go." She backed up a few steps. "I'm glad you made it home." When she turned to walk away Shysa saw a baby strapped to her back. That was reassuring, somehow.

"Can I see your baby?"

The woman stopped and looked around. Then she knelt, and unwrapped the sling, bringing the swaddled baby around to her chest. For all the woman's furtive behavior, it looked like an ordinary baby to Shysa, with large dark eyes, and black wisps of hair.

"Her name is Mirta."

"She's very small."

"She's new to the world. Just like you were once." The woman smiled, but she looked a little sad too. "Just like I was." She stood, clutching the baby to her chest, and her eyes moved to the gathering at the bonfires. "Looks like quite a party."

Shysa rocked back and forth a little. Her mother would want her to be polite. "You could come. If you want to."

The woman drew in a slow, shuddering breath. "No...I'd better not. You should go back to your family." She looked down at Shysa. "Stay alive, _Vod'ika_."

"Stay alive," Shysa echoed, watching as the woman turned back towards the cantina. There was a man standing outside the door, maybe waiting for her.

Shysa looked at the unsecured speeder again and sighed. There were too many people around. She trudged back towards the bonfires, scowling. There were a few other kids, but they were all from Concordia and they were all older than she was. Kyd and Jonah could drink ale and play _cu'bikad_ , but she didn't have anything to do. It wasn't fair.

A roar of laughter went up from the center table, and Shysa caught sight of her dad standing at the end of the table, smirking down at Uncle Luke, who was straddling one of the benches. Her uncle's face was bright red, and he seemed to be muttering something as he reached for his mug of ale.

"What was that?" Her dad inquired.

Dyrk straddled the bench behind Uncle Luke and put his arms around him. "Hey. Be nice to my husband." Uncle Luke leaned back against him, and Dyrk kissed his cheek. Weddings might be boring, but Shysa did like the idea of having another uncle.

If she ever got married, she was going to wear her armor to her wedding. And there would be games and sparring matches. Not so much standing around and drinking.

Her mom ducked under her dad's arm, her cheeks flushed and eyes bright, and he turned his head toward her. He was obviously enjoying looking at her, even though he didn't seem to like what she was saying.

"You could do it," Shysa heard him say. "You are the Chancellor."

"But you're the _Mand'alor_."

Shysa liked it when they were standing close like that, it made everything seem safer and better. They were doing it a lot lately.

Her mom gave her dad a little push, and he picked up a glass of ale from the table and mounted a bench to stand above the crowd. He didn't have to shout, or whistle. People noticed, and stopped talking.

He lifted his glass. " _At aliit_ ," he said, then repeated in Basic, "to family."


End file.
